A man who downloaded pornographic images of girls, some as young as three years, from an Internet site in America was told he was very lucky he was not going to jail when he was sentenced at Navan District Court yesterday.
Darren Alder (29), Silverlawns, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 at an earlier court and his case was adjourned for sentencing yesterday.
The offence happened at his home on May 27th last year, the date on which gardaí raided 127 locations around the State.
Judge John Brophy described the images of naked girls aged between 3 and 15 "with fully grown adult males" as "disgusting and vulgar; the most disgusting images I have seen in all my years as a judge, solicitor and as a person."
The judge said a psychological report on the accused indicated he was unlikely to reoffend and although his initial reaction was to jail him, Judge Brophy said he did not think it would do him any good. He accepted that Alder had been "outed" as reporting restrictions were lifted at the earlier court sitting and that he had been ostracised.
He could no longer drink in his local pub, "he has brought shame on his wife and siblings and he will have to live with that for the rest of his life." Judge Brophy imposed a six-month sentence suspended for two years on Alder's entering into a bond to keep the peace.