Former Sinn Féin press officer pleads guilty to 14 charges related to sex offences

A former Sinn Féin press officer charged with sex offences will be sentenced on November 8th after he pleaded guilty to 14 charges against him.
Michael McMonagle (42) of Limewood Street in Derry appeared at Derry Crown Court where he faced two charges of attempted incitement of a child to engage in sexual activity on dates in August 2021.
He was also charged with 12 counts of attempted sexual communication with a child on various dates in 2020 and 2021.
McMonagle pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
Defence barrister Kieran Mallon said they would be seeking a pre-sentence report as well as a psychology report. He said his client had been “bail compliant” and asked that he be re-released to facilitate the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
The barrister added McMonagle was aware of the sentencing powers of the court.
Judge Neil Rafferty told the defendant he should co-operate with probation. He told him he would re-release him on bail but that he should not take that as an indication that a non-custodial sentence would follow as it was “likely a custodial sentence would follow”.
McMonagle was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register and the duration of that will be determined at the sentencing hearing.