A Co Offaly man was ordered to pay Eur 3,000 compensation to a Gorey, County Wexford, girl when he pleaded guilty to making more than 500 phone calls of an obscene nature.
The judge said the man would serve four months in jail if he did not pay.
Gorey District Court, was told that Trevor Palmer (21), Mount Lucas, Tullamore, had found the girl's number by chance.
Garda Joe Sullivan said it was not possible to find out who was making the calls until one night when the caller's number flashed up on the girl's telephone.
He said Palmer had found the girl's number after he changed the last digit of the number at the end of a friend's number and began to call the then 16-year-old girl regularly.
On one particular day, Garda Sullivan said Palmer had forgotten to block out his own number when dialling the girl, and the number appeared on her telephone.
Garda Sullivan said that in all the phone calls there was very little communication, with the defendant mostly breathing into the phone. The late-night calls had a terrible effect on the young girl, he said.
Judge Ó Buachalla said that having read the various reports, he had no doubt but that it was a distressing time for a young girl who was studying for her Leaving Certificate. The victim impact report showed it had a very distressing effect on her.