Suspended sentence for man caught with child pornography

A man who was caught with serious child sexual abuse images and videos on two phones has been given a suspended two-year sentence.

Richard Hayes (51) of Ledwill Park, Kilcock, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of possessing child pornography at an address in Kingswood, Dublin on November 16, 2019.

The court heard there was a total of 33 videos and 84 images on two phones belonging to Hayes, which included a toddler being raped, a boy with a disability being forced to perform oral sex and a boy being masturbated by a male adult.

The court heard that 26 of the videos fell into category one, which is the most serious category for child sexual abuse material, while 57 images fell into this category.

Hundreds of images of preteen girls in swimwear along with some hardcore pornography was also found by gardaí who executed the search warrant, the court heard.

Hayes has no previous convictions.

Emmet Nolan BL, defending, said his client is a single man with no children. He lived a solitary life and spent a lot of time on his computer, which led to him going “down the rabbit hole” of viewing child sexual abuse material, the court heard.

He feels a “deep sense of shame and remorse” for his actions, counsel said. The court heard Hayes has a good work history and worked in the past in civil engineering and retail management.

Sentencing him, Judge Martin Nolan said the material found was of a serious nature and Hayes will be on the sex offenders’ register as a result.

He said he believed Hayes was unlikely to re-offend and there was no need to involve the Probation Service. He handed down a two year sentence, which he suspended in full.