Judge sets twenty-four hour deadline for man to appear to answer to fifteen child sex abuse charges

Michael McMonagle. PA
The defendant, who is on court bail, faces thirteen charges of attempting to sexually communicate with children for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification.

A judge at the Crown Court in Derry has set a deadline of twenty-four hours for a former Sinn Fein press officer to appear before him to answer to fifteen charges of child sex abuse.Judge Philip Babington made the order in the case of Michael Gerard McMonagle, 42, from Limewood Street in the Bogside area of the city.Last April when the defendant was arraigned on the charges he pleaded not guilty to them all.

He was due in court on Thursday to be re-arraigned on all of the charges he'd originally denied, but he failed to turn up.His legal team told Judge Babington that they could think of no explanation as to why the defendant was not in court. They said they'd tried to contact by mobile phone and by calling at his home address, but they were unable to locate him.The defendant, who is on court bail, faces thirteen charges of attempting to sexually communicate with children for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification.He also faces one charge of attempting to incite a girl under the age of thirteen to engage in sexual activity involving penetration and one charge of attempting to incite another female child under the age of sixteen to engage in a sex act.He's alleged to have committed the offences on dates between May 2020 and August 2021.Judge Babington said he would not immediately issue a bench warrant for the defendant's arrest but said he would give the defendant twenty-four hours to appear before him to answer the charges.A barrister for the Public Prosecution Service said that a trial date in the case had been fixed for next Monday that involved prosecution witnesses travelling from England. He said that trial was not now expected to take place.Defence barrister Dean Mooney said "a trial will not be required on Monday. If there are any witnesses on standby they will not be required on Monday. I cannot think of any reason for his non-attendance in court today".

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