Condemnation of the leniency of the sentence handed down to Tim Allen grew yesterday, with calls for a more structured approach to sentencing in the State.
Criminologist Dr Ian O'Donnell, based at University College Dublin, said there was a need for the judiciary to explain more clearly the steps they took when approaching sentencing so their decision would be more clearly understood.
"The one issue that comes out of it is the need for a structured approach to sentencing. There is also a need for the compilation of better quality information on sentences imposed to date in such cases in Ireland," he said.
He said that in the UK figures were readily available and they showed one in three such cases for possession of child pornography resulted in prison sentences being handed down.
"There is a lot of confusion really about what the powers of the court were in this case and about what judges are trying to achieve through sentencing.
"It's very difficult to say to what extent this is an unusual sentence because there isn't a sufficient body of similar cases yet but in a system where judges have discretion like our system, there will always be different outcomes in similar cases," he said.
"The fact that judges have discretion is a good thing in my view but the thing to aim for is a consistency in approach rather than necessarily a consistency in outcome."
The Cork Rape Crisis Centre was flooded with calls yesterday from people outraged by the leniency of the sentence, according to the centre's director, Ms Mary Crilly.
She believed the sentence imposed on Allen - 240 hours of community service plus a contribution of €40,000 to a child welfare charity - was "very low".
She added "it was very wrong" of the DPP to have allowed the case be heard in the District Court, where the penalty that could be imposed was less than in a higher court.
"By allowing that he was really saying it was a minor crime. I think what Tim Allen did in downloading child pornography has been minimised as a result," she said.
"Mr Allen paid to look at children being abused and he also paid to get out of it."
A poll carried out among listeners to the Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday revealed some 93 per cent of more than 8,500 listeners felt a custodial sentence should have been imposed.