Man posed as teen girl online to exploit boys

A young man who posed as a teenage girl on Facebook in order to sexually exploit boys will be sentenced later this month when it is expected he will plead guilty to further, similar offences.

The 21-year-old, who was 19 at the time, convinced three boys aged between 13 and 14, to send him sexually explicit pictures of themselves and to masturbate via an online video link.

He later told gardaí he did not think there was anything wrong with what he was doing and that he did it to explore his sexuality.