Record details
A sleazy coked-up pervert who repeatedly sent pictures of his penis to a 13-year-old girl refused to speak to the Sunday World after being approached about his sick crime.
Gavin Anthony Gillen was jailed at Newry Crown Court for 10 months yesterday, for sexual communication with a child – just 24 hours before his older brother James Gillen is due to be sentenced in the same court for shooting a man with a crossbow.
Gillen also sent a series of sexually explicit images to the child just over two years ago and then claimed he couldn’t have done such a thing because he’s gay.
Last Wednesday the court heard even though he knew full well he was almost 30 years older than the schoolgirl, 43-year-old Gillen still engaged the child in a series of flirtatious, sexually explicit messages, telling the teenager “she was a total honey”.
Gillen, from Milfort Avenue in Dunmurry, was due to be sentenced after he confessed to one count of sexual communication with a child “for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification” but Judge Peter Irvine KC adjourned the case and said he wanted to reconsider all of the papers before deciding what to do with the creep.
The Sunday World went to Gillen’s door to ask him about his sickening crime but he refused to open the front door.
Sources have told theSunday World that Gillen rarely answers the door as he owes so many people money, often related to his consumption of drugs.
And we have learned from sources who know Gillen he has a habit of sending unwanted sexual explicit messages to women.
Prosecuting counsel Nicole Auret outlined how the offence was committed in the early hours of December 17, 2020 when Gillen began sending the girl messages.
The barrister described how Gillen began by commenting on skimpy clothes and asking her “if she had seen porn” but he then goes on to ask her “if she has seen a penis and if she has looked for pictures of penises on the web”.
“At one point he sent her two pictures of an erect penis and asked her if she thought that d**k is nice,” said Ms Auret, adding Gillen also asked “if she liked girls rather than boys”.
Ms Auret told the court Gillen sent her the d**k pics “several times” but warned her to delete them.
The police were alerted and were able to take screenshots of the messages “but that was the extent of the co-operation” of the teenager and her family, the court heard.
Arrested and interviewed, Gillen accepted he knew the girl was just 13 when sending her sexualised messages and the explicit images.
Claiming he had been in a bar drinking and taking cocaine, Gillen further claimed “he was trying to advise her to stay away from boys and said that he was a homosexual man”.
He said the images he sent were not his own penis but did accept his behaviour “was inappropriate”.
Defence counsel Conor Lunny said Gillen was “quite emotional about the devastation that his actions have done to his own life and relations with his close family”.
“I’m under strict instructions to offer sincere and full apologies, for what it’s worth, to the injured party and her family,” said the barrister.
Jailing Gillen, Judge Peter Irvine KC said legal guidelines made it clear that offences involving the sexual exploitation of children are serious and must be met with appropriate sentences.
In addition to a 10-month jail sentence, Judge Irvine ordered Gillen to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and also imposed a sexual offences prevention order, which places prohibitions on where Gillen can live, who he can date, where he can work and what devices he is allowed.
