Man avoids jail for sending crude texts to boy, 15

A 49-year-old Dublin man has received a three-year suspended sentence for sending crude text messages with a strong sexual content to a 15-year-old boy.

Kenneth Shortall, of Bluebell Ave, Bluebell, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to five charges of sending phone messages that were grossly offensive, indecent, or obscene on dates between Nov 12 and Nov 23, 2010.

He had three previous convictions, which included theft and criminal damage, the most recent of which was in 1996.