Former sports journalist Tom Humphries sent teenage girl more than 16,000 text messages, including explicit content

A former sports journalist has admitted grooming a teenage girl by sending her thousands of sexually explicit text messages before going on to meet her for sexual acts, writes Declan Brennan.

Tom Humphries (54) of Corr Castle, Sutton, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act between January 2010 and March 2011.