Irish News media reports that he was caught by a decoy posing as a teenaged girl...
A married man has been accused of sexual communication and grooming a child after he was allegedly snared by a paedophile hunter group.
Appearing by video-link at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, computer programmer Thinira Liyanage was charged with three offences alleged to have been committed between December 14 last year and January 19 this year.
Sri Lankan national Liyanage, from Fortwell Court in Letterkenny, was charged with meeting a child following sexual grooming, sexual communication with a child for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, and causing or inciting a child to engage in a sexual activity.
During a contested application for bail on Tuesday, a detective told the court that on Sunday the PSNI received a report from an online group called Justice Reborn who “said that they are with the defendant at Coleraine train station” and that he had engaged in sexual communication with a decoy posing as a 14-year-old female child.
A detective said that according to the group and the messages, the decoy “repeatedly states that she is 14, that she is in school and that her mummy treats her like a baby”.
“Despite this the defendant repeatedly asked her to take pictures of herself including topless photos as well as making references to kissing, touching and her previous relationship experience,” the court heard.
Arrested and interviewed Liyanage told cops he was on multiple dating apps, “he is looking for a long-term relationship” but that “he suspected that it was a fake profile as he has experience of fakes”.
The court heard how Liyanage maintained there was no sexual intent on his part and when asked why he would arrange to meet the girl if he believed the profile was fake, he further claimed that if it turned out she was an adult “they might have had a relationship”.
Turning to bail objections, the officer said police feared he was a flight risk given that he lives in the south and has no family in Northern Ireland.
The court heard that while he told cops he was looking for a long term relationship, the alleged pervert is married and has a young child but his spouse and child moved back to Sri Lanka.
District Judge Nigel Broderick refused bail and remanded Liyanage into custody to February 17.