Fun-park founder given six-month term for having child porn images

The founder of the Clara Lara children's fun-park in Co Wicklow, who was jailed for six months yesterday after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, has not been a director of the company since May of this year.

More than 1,000 child pornography images were found on the computer of Peter Morphew, a 63-year-old separated father of two, with an address at Ballylug, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, when gardaí seized a computer from his home.

Records at the Companies Office show that Morphew has not been a director of Clara Lara Ltd since May 12th.

The company, which is still operating, is now registered to an address at Clark House Business Centre, Naas, Co Kildare, care of John Nolan and Associates. Mr Nolan did not return calls from The Irish Times yesterday, and the other registered director, Ms Jean Byrne, could not be contacted for comment.

Since it opened 20 years ago the 100-acre Clara Lara fun-park, three miles from Laragh, has been a popular attraction for children and their families. It operates from May to August.

Yesterday Morphew told Judge Raymond Groarke in Wicklow Circuit Court he was "appalled" by his behaviour.

He said in evidence that he had been going through a "bad patch" at the time. He had got to a certain age - he was lonely, bored, depressed and drinking more than he should have been in the evenings.

"I hope most people know that it's not me. I can't believe I did it. I can't say why I did it. I certainly wouldn't, couldn't do it again."

Morphew's home was raided by gardaí on May 27th, 2002, as part of Operation Amethyst, a special investigation which has targeted almost 100 suspected Irish paedophiles for the last 18 months. The operation was established after US police shared information with the Garda on Irish child pornography suspects who had used their credit cards to buy images from an Internet company in Texas called Landslide Production.

Morphew told gardai how he had been browsing on the Internet, and out of curiosity had accessed a child pornography site featuring teenagers. He gave a credit card number to access the site and was charged $40.

He told gardaí that his curiosity had not gone outside the Internet and he had no desire to do so.

Sgt Mary Burgage said when Morphew's house was raided he had co-operated fully with gardaí. She added that there had been no complaints from the community about him, and no complaints arising from his connection with Clara Lara FunPark.