900 images of child sexual abuse material

By Eimear Dodd

A man found in possession of over 900 images of child sexual abuse material told gardai it became a challenge to access this material.

Joseph Doyle (68) of Vesey Mews, Monkstown, Co. Dublin pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material, known in law as child pornography, on May 27, 2019.

He was handed a two-year sentence, suspended in full on strict conditions yesterday.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the Garda Online Child Exploitation Unit were notified by international colleagues about a particular IP address linked to Doyle’s address.

Doyle was present when gardai searched his home. He was co-operative, made admissions after caution to gardai and provided usernames and passwords.

Two laptops, two external hard drives and a desktop PC were among the devices seized by gardai.

An investigating garda told Caroline Latham BL, prosecuting, that 954 images of child sexual abuse material were found on two devices – a laptop and a PC.

The court heard that 220 of the 954 images were in the most serious category of a child sexual nature.

580 images were categorised as child exposure, and 216 were of child anime.

Doyle was arrested by arrangement. During interview, he told gardai that he had an issue with pornography, as well as problems with drugs and drink.

He described having an “inquisitive nature” and said it became a “challenge” as it was very difficult to access this type of material.

Doyle said he was shocked when they arrived but felt some relief and apologised. He has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since.

The garda agreed with Justin McQuaid BL, defending, that his client was co-operative, entered an early guilty plea, and expressed remorse during interview.

The garda agreed that it had been almost six years between the date of the offence and the sentence hearing.

It was also accepted that there is no suggestion of distribution or sharing of the material.

Imposing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said, “unfortunately, this is a well-trodden crime in these courts”.

He noted the evidence was that the defendant “expanded quite a lot of energy to get these images” and that “thankfully”, it is “not easy to acquire” with the defendant having to “expand time and energy” to access the material.

Judge Nolan noted the precedents of the Court of Appeal, which indicate that a non-custodial sentence should be considered in the absence of aggravating factors including distribution.

The court heard Doyle is retired and has a long work history.

Letters from Doyle, One in Four and a testimonial were handed to the court.

Mr McQuaid asked the court to take into account his client’s admissions, co-operation, and efforts towards rehabilitation.

He suggested that his client had “perfect mitigation,” and his letter demonstrated his remorse, insight and personal responsibility for his wrongdoing.

Mr McQuaid asked the court to take into account the public odium associated with this offence, the time taken for the case to come to court and that his client will be on the sex offenders’ register.