sacked | 

Youth worker sent explicit images to girl (15) and took screenshot of her chest

The 28-year-old was found guilty of intentionally communicating with a child for sexual gratification, as well as possessing and making an indecent image of a child.

Today at 08:37

This is the disgraced youth worker who lost his job after sending sex pics to a child on social media.

Creepy Caoimhin Morgan was sending explicit images to his teenage victim and also screenshotted her breasts.

Morgan has now been sacked from his job at a well-known youth centre in Coalisland, Co Tyrone, where sources say his behaviour has “shocked” the community.

he 28-year-old was found guilty of intentionally communicating with a child for sexual gratification, as well as possessing and making an indecent image of a child.

Morgan strenuously denied the charges but at a contested hearing, a judge at Dungannon Magistrates Court described his version of events as “fanciful” and said Morgan “knew he was communicating with a child”.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said he found the evidence given by his victim “entirely credible” and that he “placed considerable weight on her evidence”.

Morgan, from Dixon Court, Coalisland, was initially charged with inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, intentionally communicating with a child for sexual gratification, as well as possessing and making an indecent image of a child.

On the day of contest some charges were dropped, leaving sexual communication with a child and making an indecent photograph on dates between February 1 and June 25 last year.

The court heard that across three police interviews Morgan gave “largely no-comment responses”.

The victim, who was 15 at the time, reported receiving messages from Morgan on Snapchat which she unlocked in the presence of police.

These showed communication over a period of time and while it was initially instigated by the victim, she was unable to explain why she did this.

It was noted she and Morgan had “different perspectives on the nature of the conversations but they were clearly sexual, and by extension, for gratification”.

Much of the communication no longer exists due to the social media platforms used.

The victim told the court Morgan had expressed concerns around losing his job as a result of the communications due to her age.

Additional evidence retrieved from an Instagram account supported this assertion.

In evidence, however, Morgan insisted he never had any reason to question the victim’s age and understood the victim was 16 or 17, basing this on the fact she had a part-time job and would have needed a National Insurance number for that.

He also claimed the victim was friendly with two males whom he believed were older but they were in fact much younger.

He accepted that, at some point during the time he was communicating with the victim, he became concerned that “people would find out he had shared explicit images and did not want that out there”.

He accepted screenshotting an image of the victim’s breasts but claimed this was done accidentally by locking his phone and he deleted it as soon as he knew how to do so.

Morgan claimed he alerted the victim of the image, then deleted it, only realising it would also have to be deleted from a separate folder with her assistance.

The victim gave a different version, telling the court she only became aware of the image when her device alerted her that she had been screenshotted.

Following consideration, District Judge Ranaghan repeated his previous concerns of the case not being sent to the Crown Court and said: “I found [the victim] to be an entirely credible witness and I placed considerable weight on her evidence.

“I found the defendant’s claims about being found out as fanciful. Images were exchanged from the first night and yet suddenly, according to him, he had a pang of conscience. I simply did not believe this.

“I believed the victim and I did not believe the defendant. I am satisfied he knew he was communicating with a child, which he knew he should not be doing.”

The judge also dismissed Morgan’s explanation of the indecent image and instead ruled he had acted deliberately.

Addressing Morgan directly, he said: “I am convicting you on both counts. That is not what you wanted to hear. Pre-sentence reports will be required as you have been found guilty of very serious offences.”

Morgan was remanded on continuing bail to attend for sentencing in December on a date to be fixed.

He was ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register before leaving court, the duration of which will be determined at sentencing.

Sources in Coalisland said people were struggling to come to terms with Morgan’s actions.

“Everyone is shocked and appalled at his behaviour,” said a source. “This is someone who was supposed to be there to help look after teenagers as a youth worker.

“His family is highly respected in the town and this is devastating for them as well as the poor victim.”

Throughout the court process, Judge Ranaghan expressed his belief the case was serious enough to have been heard at the higher Crown Court. He even asked the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to review its decision to have it heard in the Magistrates Court.

At a hearing last July, he said: “I may have an issue with this matter and if that is the case, all I can do is ask the prosecution to review their decision. However, I have no power of refusal if they decline to do so.”

Having taken time to consider the case further, he said: “This is a youth worker involved in alleged requests for sex from a child. I do not believe this court has sufficient powers to deal with charges on this level.”

He ordered the file to be sent back to the PPS for review and urged it to be elevated to Crown Court.

However, a prosecuting lawyer advised the file was reviewed and the decision to retain matters in the lower court stood.