THE NEWS PUBLICATION Kildare Now has issued an apology, after a photograph of a man mistakenly believed to be a sex offender was wrongly shared by a commenter on its Facebook page, which led to an altercation between the innocent man and a number of locals in the Kildare town of Monasterevin.

Local councillor Thomas Redmond told TheJournal.ie that the incident occurred outside a pub in the town.

“It’s terrible,” he said, “that this could happen due to a case of mistaken identity”.

The publication issued a clarification and apology on its site yesterday, explaining how the situation arose.

An article had been published, it said, based on “the concerns of parents in Monasterevin and elsewhere” that a convicted sex offender had been seen in the area.

When it posted the article to Facebook, a commenter posted a picture of a completely innocent person “who they believed looked like” this sex offender and “who was seen in Monasterevin”.

“As a result an altercation took place between locals and that innocent person,” it said.

KildareNow would like to unreservedly apologise to that innocent person who gardaí also confirmed it was not [the man they had named in the article].

It asked that no one share further images of the innocent person on social media platforms.

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