Social Democrats councillor resigns over allegations of ‘sex abuse, catfishing and underage grooming’

A city councillor in Galway, Ireland, has resigned following serious sexual abuse allegations, including posing as a teenager and eliciting explicit images from a young male.

In videos posted on social media, an 18-year-old gay person alleged to have experienced “sexual abuse, catfishing and underage grooming” at the hands of councillor Owen Hanley.

They claimed the abuse started shortly after they turned 16 and ended in February 2022, when they were 17. PinkNews is not naming them as the alleged offending happened while they were a juvenile.

The alleged victim, who has not responded to PinkNews’ request for comment, claimed the pair knew each other from previous engagements through the Social Democrats party, which Hanley represented on the city council.

In a post on Facebook, Owen Hanley acknowledged “certain allegations” had been made about him.

“These are very serious matters and will obviously take a considerable length of time to be investigated fully by the appropriate authorities,” he said.

“In these circumstances, I believe that the correct thing for me to do is to resign my members of Galway City Council.”

He did not plan to make any further comment on the matter. PinkNews has contacted Hanley for comment regardless.

The Irish police, An Garda Síochána, said it was aware of the allegations but could not comment.

PinkNews understands no formal complaints have been made to the police.

The Social Democrats have also been contacted for comment.

In a statement provided to the Irish Independent, the party said Hanley’s resignation was appropriate while the allegations were investigated.

“The party notified the relevant statutory authorities charged with investigating these allegations as soon as it became aware of them.

“The party takes allegations of this nature extremely seriously and has at all times strictly adhered to our statutory obligations.”

Owen Hanley’s profile on the Social Democrat website has been removed, the Irish Independent also reported.