A top Irish journalist has pleaded guilty to six child sex offenses. Appearing at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this week, the prominent writer, who the Irish Mirror have named as Irish Times sports columnist Tom Humphries, pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement of a child and four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act.
The 53-year-old accused admitted to engaging in sexual acts with a girl under 17 on two occasions between December 5, 2010, and February 19, 2011, and to exploiting the girl by inviting her to engage in sexual acts on four occasions between January 2010 and March 2011. No name was given to the journalist in question by any Irish publications other than the Irish Mirror due to legal reasons.
Three further charges initially relating to the same victim will now not be brought against the accused journalist by the Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuting counsel Shane Costelloe told the court. The writer was remanded on bail by Judge Patricia Ryan until July 3 when he will be sentenced. The full facts of the case will be heard when he is sentenced later this year.
Top sports journalist Tom Humphries pleads guilty to six child sex offences https://t.co/NMUqiHSAuL
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) March 8, 2017
As well as working as a ghost writer for the autobiography of famed Republic of Ireland soccer player Niall Quinn, Humphries, the Irish Mirror reports, was one of Ireland’s best-known sports writers with thanks to his weekly column in the Irish Times, “Locker Room.”
It was on the front page of the Irish Times that his interview with Roy Keane appeared, the piece of work he is best known for. The captain’s critical comments on the Republic of Ireland team’s preparations for the World Cup and the attitude of other players and managers involved was exploded and set the tide in motion for Keane to walk out before the tournament even began.
Humphries has also authored books on the GAA including “Green Fields: Gaelic Sport in Ireland”, “Kerry v Dublin”, and “Come What May”.
H/T: Irish Mirror
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