A 25-year-old Dublin man has been jailed for 2 years for having sex with a 13-year-old girl that he befriended on social networking site Bebo.

Graham Doyle of St. Ronan's Way in Clondalkin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of defilement of a child at his home on April 29th 2011.

He used a fake name and photo and claimed to be 19 when the then 12-year-old girl first accepted his friendship request on Bebo.

After 4 weeks he gave the girl his real name and admitted that the photograph he had used was not of him.

They became friends on Facebook and MSN Messenger and exchanged numbers, sending each other texts over the following months, some of a sexual nature.

In April 2011 he arranged to meet the girl, who had turned 13, outside his local supermarket. She was dropped off by her mother who thought she was meeting a friend.

Graham Doyle brought her back to his parents home and had sex with her a number of times in his bedroom before offering her vodka.

Low risk of re-offending

At one stage he said he was sorry for hurting her. He had sex with her again but stopped when he noticed she was not comfortable.

Afterwards they listened to music and went downstairs to the living room. When Graham Doyle's father entered, he told him he was giving the girl guitar lessons.

When she went home, the girl did not tell her parents what had happened but her mother over-heard her daughter talking to one of her friends and a complaint was subsequently made to gardai.

Graham Doyle pleaded guilty to 2 charges of defilement. He is described as a man of low self-esteem, emotionally immature and at a 'moderate to low risk of re-offending'.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Patrick Randall gave evidence that while the 25-year-old's use of Bebo was 'no accident' his intersts were not exclusively towards younger people.

Judge Mary Ellen Ring said the most disturbing aspect of the case was the use of social networking sites to 'groom the injured party' and she found the 'gift of alcohol smacks of a pay-off'.

She took into consideration Graham Doyle's early guilty plea and his payment of €5,000 compensation to his victim as an indication of his remorse.

The judge noted his willingness to engage in therapy which is 'to society's benefit if succesfully completed'. She imposed a three and a half years sentence with the final 18 months suspended.