€1,750 fine for man who had sex with 16-year-old

A 19-year-old man who met a 16-year-old via the internet site Tagged had sex with her during a three-month relationship a couple of months before her 17th birthday and yesterday he was ordered to pay the €1,750 bill for her subsequent counselling.

Judge Con O’Leary indicated yesterday that a €1,500 fine would be imposed on him if he did not make that payment for the expenses the victim incurred in getting counselling.

Two years after their relationship ended she made a complaint against the man to gardaí and he was prosecuted for having sex with a child under the age of 17. The girl was 16 years and 10 months old at the time — about two months short of the legal age to have consensual sex. He was 19 at the time.