PAEDO CAUGHT IN STING JAILED

Explicit pics sent to group who posed as a 13-year-old

- SONYA MCLEAN

A MAN caught through a sting operation by a vigilante group who posed as a 13-year-old in WhatsApp chats has been jailed for 16 months.

Robert Ashmore, 54, later told gardai that he believed he was communicating with scammers but Garda Nicola Duffy told Judge Martin Nolan she didn't accept this.

She explained Child Protection Awareness and Justice Reborn were two groups that had communicated with Ashmore, via WhatsApp, while posing as the teenager.

They provided gardai with copies of more than 2,000 exchanges between Ashmore and themselves, many of which were explicit in nature and she believed that Ashmore "felt he was engaging in conversations with a 13-year-old".

The groups did not provide witness statements to gardai.