Suspended sentence for man who possessed child pornography

By Jessica Magee

A Dublin man who admitted possessing 54 videos of explicit child pornography has been given a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Gavin Belmont (26) of Oatfield Park, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to possessing the material on a mobile phone at his home on May 24, 2022. 

Handing down a two-year suspended sentence on Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan said the videos were at the explicit end of the scale and that possessing child pornography was “not a victimless crime”.

Judge Nolan noted that Belmont had pleaded guilty early, cooperated fully with gardaí, had no previous convictions and was unlikely to re-offend.

“He’s thoroughly ashamed for what he did, as he should be,” said the judge, ordering Belmont to be of good behaviour and abide by the instructions of probation services for the duration of his suspended sentence.

Garda Gemma Casserly told Emmet Nolan BL, prosecuting, that she was made aware of the illegal activity by the Garda Online Child Exploitation Unit.

Gardaí discovered child porn activity on the messaging app Kik, which was linked to a username and email address used by Belmont.

After obtaining a search warrant, gardaí arrived at Belmont’s home, where he lives with his parents.

Belmont was cooperative and gave gardaí his phone and password.

The phone was examined and found to contain 54 images and videos, all of which were categorised as explicit, with some depicting particularly graphic sexual acts involving naked children.

Belmont attended a garda station by appointment. He has no previous convictions.

Gda Casserly agreed with Olan Callinan BL, defending, that Belmont comes from a very good and very hardworking family.

Gda Casserly also agreed that as soon as gardaí knocked on his door, Belmont took immediate steps by attending counselling.

The court heard that Belmont has worked for the last decade in the same manufacturing company as his father and has also obtained a degree from Maynooth University.

Gda Casserly agreed that Belmont has a high level of shame and remorse and that his main concern was for the shame and hurt he had brought upon his family.

Letters from Belmont’s parents and from himself were submitted to court, including one from his mother describing a “kind and gentle” son who had been a role model for his younger brothers.