Man accessed child abuse material while at ‘loose end’ during Covid-19 lockdown

A man who accessed child abuse material while out of work and at a “loose end” during a Covid-19 lockdown has been given a suspended sentence, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Richard Cox (40) pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography on October 26th, 2020.

Det Garda Dara McNally told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Friday that gardaí obtained confidential information that there was child abuse material at an address in Tallaght.

A search was carried out on October 26th, 2020 and gardaí seized a mobile phone, two Xboxes and a USB stick. Child abuse material was only found on the mobile phone.

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It contained 269 images and 39 videos of child abuse material. The videos and 53 of the images were classed as category one, containing explicit material of children engaged in or witnessing sexual activity.

In addition, a production order was sought from Google Ireland and 110 images and 37 videos were recovered, which had been uploaded to the cloud via an automatic process. The court heard that while accessing the material on the phone, these particular images and videos were backed up automatically without any proactive action by the accused.

Cox was present during the search and made admissions to gardaí at the house and when later interviewed. The court heard that Cox, of Tamarisk Avenue, Tallaght, has no previous convictions.

Det Garda McNally agreed with Kieran Kelly BL, defending, that his client had entered an early guilty plea and has not come to recent garda attention. It was also agreed that there was no attempt to distribute the material.

Mr Kelly said this offence occurred during a Covid-19 lockdown while his client - who has a good work history - was not working. He said his client was at a “loose end” at home where he was taking drugs, drinking and accessing pornography. This deteriorated into him “looking for child abuse material”, he added.

Counsel said a psychological report outlined that his client was “repulsed but could not resist” and has been referred for specific therapy to deal with his underlying addiction issues. He asked the court to take into consideration the early guilty plea and his client’s co-operation with gardaí. He said his client says he is now sober.

Judge Martin Nolan said he took into account the nature of the material found on the phone and the mitigating factors. He said the court considers Cox to be unlikely to reoffend to a great degree in the future and it appears his “underlying addiction problems led him astray during Covid”.

He imposed a 2½ year sentence on Cox, which he suspended in full on strict conditions.

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