The manner in which the courts have dealt with persons charged with possessing child pornography has been inconsistent.
At least three prosecutions for offences committed contrary to Section 6 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998, have now been fully dealt with in the District Court.
Earlier this month, a former teacher was jailed for nine months at Balbriggan District Court for possession of child pornography whereas Tim Allen was sentenced to 240 hours of community service after agreeing to make a €40,000 donation to a Calcutta child charity. Both had been arrested as part of the Garda's Operation Amethyst last May.
When the cases of two other men arrested in Co Meath under Operation Amethyst came before Judge John Brophy at Navan District Court recently, he ruled the men should not be named to protect the identities of their families. The men pleaded guilty and their cases were adjourned so that probation reports could be obtained on the defendants.
In the Balbriggan case, Alan Crosby (28), of Railway Street, Balbriggan, was convicted on January 2nd of possession of child pornography at Castlelands, Balbriggan, on May 27th, 2002. He had taught art and design at Colaiste Dhulaigh in Coolock.
Judge Sean MacBride sentenced him to nine months' imprisonment, with the last three months suspended. The judge described child pornography as the "work of the devil" and said if not for people like the defendant downloading the images, there would be no market for it.
The defendant, who had admitted obtaining pornography from the Internet, had attended counselling, the court heard. He had no previous convictions.
The judge said child pornography led to the "exploitation and ruination of young lives".
"The court must protect young children no words in the English language can describe the abuse of a child. These images are the work of the devil and must be condemned by right-thinking people.
"This cannot be tolerated and the message must be sent out before society is destroyed by this kind of activity," he added.
In addition to the jail sentence, the judge directed that the defendant attend the Granada Institute and be registered as a sex offender.
The case was reported in the Fingal Independent.
In a further case, dealt with in the Circuit Court last April before Operation Amethyst, an exchange student from Seoul in South Korea, Kim Yung Hoon (22), was given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to leave Ireland immediately when he appeared before Galway Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to having thousands of child pornography images stored on his laptop computer, contrary to Section 6 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act.
Judge Carroll Moran sentenced him to two years' jail, suspended for five years, on condition that he return to South Korea and not return to Ireland for five years.
And in another case which came before Dublin District Court last year, a 23-year-old student, Mark Teeling, from Hampton Court, Clontarf, was given a nine-month suspended sentence, fined €1,200 and given 150 hours' community service after admitting possessing child pornography.
Meanwhile, a case involving an alleged breach of Section 6 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act has been referred by a District Court judge to the Circuit Court.
However, this case also involves a charge of alleged soliciting. This is the case of Garda Sgt Kieran O'Halloran of Fiveoaks, Drogheda, Co Louth, which has yet to come to trial.