A Cork man in his 40s was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment yesterday for producing child pornography and sexually assaulting and exploiting his neighbours' five-year-old child.
The married man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to four charges, including possession of 22,000 images of child pornography, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The child had been playing in her friend's house on January 3rd 2000 when the assault occurred. When she went home she told her parents that the man had taken a picture of her, sexually assaulted her and "annoyed her".
Gardai arrested the man on June 10th and searched his house. A digital camera was sent to the Computer Crime Investigation Centre, where images of young children in pornographic poses were uncovered. The camera also contained 12 pictures of the victim.
Initially, the man denied assaulting the child, but he subsequently admitted asking her to make pornographic poses in the photographs. He was charged with sexual assault under the terms of the Criminal Law Rape Amendment Act, 1998. He was also charged with child pornography and exploitation of a child under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
The victim's father told the court that the child still had memories of the events of that day and was "very cagey" about going back to the neighbours' house, even though it had new tenants. He said the man had appeared to be a normal, gentle person. "He and his wife gained our trust. This man began to prey on our daughter. He used her for his own perverse gratification."
Passing sentence, Judge A.G. Murphy said that the full effects on the child would not be known for some time. "To say that there was a breach of trust is inadequate. The use of this sort of behaviour is such that it calls for a long custodial sentence." He said that a 14-year sentence might have been appropriate, but he jailed the man for nine years after taking his guilty plea into consideration.