Man jailed for one year for possession of child sexual abuse material

This article contains references to child sexual abuse, which some readers may find distressing.

Reader discretion is advised.

By Fiona Ferguson

A man has been jailed for one year for the possession of child sexual abuse material for the purpose of distributing it.

The 41-year-old man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly possessing child pornography for purpose of distributing on a date between September 2021 and May 2022.

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan noted that despite “a good mitigation” and “an optimistic probation service report” the accused deserved a custodial sentence as he distributed the images.

He imposed a sentence of three years and suspended the final two years of that term for two years. Judge Nolan said there was no need for a probation supervision order following the man’s ultimate release from prison.

An investigating garda told Fiona Pekar BL, prosecuting, that gardai searched the accused man’s address and seized a phone and laptop. He gave gardai a PIN for the phone.

The accused man accepted the presence of the material on his phone and gave an account of how it got there that gardai did not find credible.

The court heard there were four unique files and eight unique videos which all fell into category 1 classification of children under 18 witnessing or engaged in explicit sexual activity.

There was further evidence of the distribution of files via WhatsApp to 12 recipients.

He has no previous convictions in Ireland. Gardai were unable to ascertain if he had prior convictions in his country.

Morgan Shelly SC, defending, said the accused man came to Ireland in 2017 and having been successful in an asylum claim, became an Irish citizen. He said the man had a good work ethic.

Mr Shelly said there was medical evidence before the court that was highly indicative that the accused man had “suffered the most appalling things happening in his life.”

He said the man gave an account of having been a victim of extreme sexual violence and attempted murder by people associated with the police in his home country. He said the man also gave an account of being a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

The court heard his home country had been a challenging place to be a gay man.

Mr Shelly opened a psychological report to the court and outlined the man suffered a high level of post-traumatic stress. He said the man said that the crime he had committed was more shameful as he knew what it was like to be a victim, but the accused had felt like that material was normal.

He said it was fortunate the man was detected at an early stage of sexual offending and he has insight that it was wrong. He said there was no indication of a sexual interest in children.

Counsel said it was a feature of this case that due to his background the accused man’s reaction to the material was not what it should be or “normal” and he was not immediately repulsed by it.

He said the man has been assessed as at low risk of recidivism. He said there were severe mental health concerns in relation to him and he urgently required professional counselling.

He said it was clear from the reports that the accused man has great remorse and insight into his offending. He said the man is apologetic and genuinely sorry for what he has done

Counsel implored the court not to impose a custodial sentence which he submitted would be more difficult for the accused because of what he has been through. He asked the court to consider a suspended sentence with strict conditions including courses and protective measures.