A MAN who had hundreds of child pornography pictures stored on his computer has been given a 2½-year suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
John McDonnell (26) had 268 images of children in various forms of sexual abuse. Gardaí were alerted after German police informed them that McDonnell’s “internet protocol” address had been used to access child porn sites.
Many of the images were stored under his user name in the “My Documents” folder. He had tried to delete most of them but they could still be found on the computer.
McDonnell, of Grosvenor Square, Rathmines, used to work in an “editor-type position” but quit when charges were brought against him. It was not stated in court who he worked for. He is now again employed full-time in a media position.
Defence counsel Bernard Condon said his client became interested in such images when he was 15 and he started hanging around with a group of “geeks”.
He pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography at his family home at Hyne Valley Way, Rathfarnham, on November 24th, 2007.
Judge Tony Hunt said that McDonnell’s crime, which he described as “repulsive and repellent”, was not a victimless one.
“Young children, often not from this part of the world but from areas of poverty and without parental supervision and who are therefore vulnerable to exploitation, are the very real victims in this offence.”
He accepted that McDonnell had never supplied or shared the images, and a report from the Granada Institute stated he had addressed his rehabilitation in “a positive and committed way”.
A report from the Probation Services said McDonnell had developed an interest in child pornography during his teenage years when he was confused in relation to sexual matters, and concluded he was rehabilitated to such an extent that he did not require further supervision.
The judge accepted that McDonnell developed an addiction and “it seemed was unable to stop himself investigating this type of material”. He said he was satisfied McDonnell did not pose a significant danger to children or society and was unlikely to reoffend.
He registered him as a sex offender before he suspended the sentence and noted that McDonnell had undertaken in open court to allow gardaí to search his residence and inspect his computer during the period of his three-year good behaviour bond.
McDonnell co-operated with gardaí and handed in a statement to them detailing his offending.
Mr Condon said his client came from a good family and had the support of them and his partner in court.
He said he had never shared the images with others and was regarded as being at a low to medium risk of reoffending.