Man avoids jail after grooming girl online for sex

Social media site Facebook was used to groom a 13-year-old girl before she was sexually assaulted at a derelict house by a man eight years older than her, a court heard.

Lee Carey, of Sycamore Heights, Patrickswell, now aged 24, who was 21 at the time, adopted the false persona of “36-year-old Nigel O’Dea” and developed extensive contact with the girl through the site and messages of a sexual nature were exchanged.

Garda Tracey Corcoran, told Limerick Circuit Court matters came to light when a complaint was made by the mother of the young girl who found her daughter walking back after the pair had met in the derelict house.