Man seeking boys for his own sexual gratification is jailed in Limerick

A POLISH man who collected a 15-year-old boy at a playground in County Limerick for the purpose of sexual exploitation has been jailed and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Daniel Lasota, aged 44, of Carr Street, Limerick city also offered to pay a man he met online for sex with his young cousin, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard in February.

A senior Limerick detective said Lasota was “clearly seeking out young boys for his own sexual gratification”. Judge Dermot Sheehan said: “These are serious matters.”

Lasota pleaded guilty in February to one count of meeting a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation and two counts of using information and communication technology to facilitate sexual exploitation of a child.

The case was adjourned until March as the judge said he was “going to have to think about this”.

The court heard in February that Lasota, who had previously entered a seminary in Poland, picked up the 15-year-old boy after they had met earlier on a date in August 2019 on Grindr - the world's largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people.

The teenager got out of the defendant’s car while stopped at a red light in Limerick city and told the driver of the vehicle behind that he had been “kidnapped”.

Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley, instructed by State solicitor Aidan Judge, outlined the case with the assistance of Detective Sergeant Michael Reidy.

Specialist garda interviewers met with the boy. Ms Buckley said he told them he downloaded the Grindr app as he was a bit confused who he was sexually. The boy told gardai when he was in the car, “I just kept asking myself what I was doing? I didn’t know the consequences”.

Det Sgt Reidy said the victim purported to be 18 when he set up his Grindr profile, which is a necessity on that site, but when Mr Lasota met him at the playground “it was clear he was of tender years”.

A photo of the boy was briefly shown to Judge Sheehan who said, “He looks very young”.

After Mr Lasota was arrested, information was downloaded from his phone and from his Grindr profile. Ms Buckley said Mr Lasota was in contact with a profile called “Young” two weeks before the boy was in his car going to the city.

“Young” told Mr Lasota he was “minding his little cousin for the evening”. Mr Lasota offered to pay for sex, said Ms Buckley. “Young” didn’t respond after this.

The court heard Mr Lasota told gardai during interviews that the boy he collected at the playground told him he was 16 and a half but that he didn’t believe him. He told gardai they were going to go for food and would bring the boy home as he wanted to be home for 8pm.

Gardai asked him during the interview if it was a good idea to have a child in his car and have sexual conversations with him.

“No,” said Mr Lasota.

At the end of his evidence, Det Sgt Reidy said the boy found himself in a vulnerable place in August 2019 but has moved on with his life and is now in gainful employment.

Yvonne Quinn BL, who represented Mr Lasota, said her client made a mistake and knows he shouldn’t have done it.

“He said it was totally wrong,” said Ms Quinn.

Det Sgt Reidy said on the day Mr Lasota saw the risk and “disregarded the risk”.

Ms Quinn said her client has instructed her to convey his deepest apologies and especially to the complainant.

“He has never been in court before in Poland or Ireland. He finds himself here, is full of contrition and is profoundly ashamed of his actions. He takes full responsibility. He gave remarkably candid interviews and there was a high level of cooperation,” said

Ms Quinn, who spoke of the value of the guilty plea so the victim didn’t have to give evidence.

Ms Quinn handed in counselling and psychological reports which indicate a zero to low risk of reoffending.

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She said the age of consent is 16 in Poland but he knew that it is 17 in Ireland and “thought he looked young”.

“He wasn’t thinking straight at the time. He has been open, transparent and is profoundly ashamed. He deeply regrets it and welcomes that the injured party has moved on with his life,” said Ms Quinn.

When the case was back before Judge Sheehan for sentencing this month, he said there are a number of aggravating factors - the boy looked extremely young, Lasota allowed him into his car, they drove for a long time and these are “serious matters”.

The mitigation factors were his guilty pleas, he hasn’t come to adverse garda attention in the intervening years, and the psychological report which says he is not a danger if at large.

Judge Sheehan jailed Lasota for two and half years with the last 18 months suspended on each count to be served concurrently.