Michael McMonagle jailed for child sex offences

Former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle has been jailed for child sex offences.

He had already been placed on the sexual offenders' register after an earlier court appearance when he pleaded guilty to 14 charges.

They relate to various dates between May 2020 and August 2021.

On Friday at Londonderry Crown Court, McMonagle was sentenced to nine months in custody and a further nine months on licence.

McMonagle, 43, who has an address of Limewood Street in Londonderry, originally faced 15 charges, including attempting to incite two children to engage in sexual activity.

He was also accused of 13 counts of attempted sexual communication with a child.

At his first court appearance last year he was charged with three offences but 12 more were added later.

On Friday, the court in Derry heard how McMonagle had communicated with a number of online accounts which were run by police officers posing as children.

The judge said that across all charges there had been "in total six decoy/fictitious children ranging from 12 years to under 16 years".

According to the judge, McMonagle had said he was "ashamed of his behaviour and deeply regretted the hurt and problems he had caused for other people".

Due to McMonagle's guilty plea, the judge said he was entitled to a reduction in his sentence.

A defence barrister criticised the coverage of the case in the media and said there "had been a near-total collapse of the truth".

He described the defendant as "a victim of a media witch hunt" and said the case had been "politicised".

Speaking after the sentencing on Friday, PSNI Ch Supt Lindsay Fisher described McMonagle as a "predator who was combing the internet for underage victims".

Police said that, during an operation led by their child internet protection team, it was discovered that over the course of 15 months from May 2020, McMonagle interacted with a number of child profiles online with ages between 12 and 14.

In August 2021, police said, he attempted to get what he believed to be multiple children aged 14 and under to perform sexual acts.

During the same month, detectives seized a number of electronic devices from his home to capture evidence of chat logs, images and identified usernames he was using online.

McMonagle was interviewed and charged to attend court in relation to the identified offences.

"Let this serve as a warning, we are everywhere. If you are attempting to communicate with a child online in a sexual way, you will be caught and you will face the full force of the law when you are,” Ch Supt Fisher said.

Speaking on Friday, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said "justice has been served".

"I voice my appreciation to the system that has brought McMonagle to book and he will now be behind bars," she said.

McMonagle had worked as a newspaper journalist in Derry before being employed as a Sinn Féin press officer in the north west.

He was also an adviser for the party at Stormont for a number of years.

In September it was revealed that two Sinn Féin press officers gave references for McMonagle, their former colleague, after he had been arrested and suspended from the party, but before he had appeared in court.