Man who sent 'objectionable' Facebook messages to Cork teen found guilty of grooming

The prosecution barrister said: "It is abundantly obvious he knew what he was doing was wrong."

The accused man had pleaded not guilty to communicating with the 14-year-old by Facebook messages for the purpose of facilitating sexual exploitation of the child. He also denied the charge of sending sexually explicit material to the child. File photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA

The man with autism spectrum disorder who denied communicating with a 14-year-old girl for the purpose of sexual exploitation was found guilty by the unanimous decision of a jury after less than two hours of deliberation.

The accused, who was 26 at the time, was involved in a classic case of grooming of the 14-year-old girl, the prosecution barrister said at the end of his trial but the defence claimed the accused hadn’t a clue what he was doing.