A MAN who was caught in possession of child pornography after leaving his mobile phone containing the images in a pub has appeared at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Bar staff contacted gardaí after finding the phone and discovering inappropriate images.
Lorcan Fahy pleaded guilty to possessing 25 images and one video of child pornography of children between eight and 16 years old at a Clondalkin pub, on September 17th, 2009.
Fahy (31), Monastery Gate Lawn, Clondalkin, also pleaded guilty to possession of 79 downloaded images of child pornography of children between the ages of 14 and 16 at his home on September 18th, 2009. He has no previous convictions.
The court was told the images fell into categories at the low end of the scale of child pornography depicting erotic posing and non-penetrative sexual activity.
Judge Patricia Ryan adjourned sentencing until July 27th to allow a probation report to be prepared. She remanded Fahy on continuing bail
Garda Ciarán O’Neill told Garret Baker, prosecuting, that gardaí were contacted by bar staff who said a mobile had been found on the premises which contained inappropriate images.
Garda O’Neill said he went to the pub and on viewing the images agreed with the impression that they were of young girls. He discovered the phone was registered to Fahy and applied for a search warrant for his home.
Fahy opened the door to gardaí and, when asked if he had anything to hand over, he gave gardaí bundles of pictures of naked girls. He admitted he had the images of young children on his phone and expressed remorse. A small amount of cannabis valued at €170 was also found.
He said he had noticed when he got home from the pub that his phone was gone. He said he had got the images from a website and acknowledged they were of under 18-year-olds.
Fahy said he had got into it through looking at porn sites. “I am sorry and don’t know what I was thinking,” he told gardaí. Gardaí also seized his laptop computer.
Garda O’Neill said 104 images and one video were found to be in breach of the legislation.
There were 25 images on the phone, with 24 being in the lowest category depicting erotic posing with no sexual activity.
There was one image in the second-lowest category which depicts sexual activity between children or on their own.
A further 79 images found on a computer were also in the lower categories, with some of those images and a video in category three which depicts non-penetrative sexual activity between adults and children.
Garda O’Neill agreed with Luán Ó Braonáin SC, defending, that he had no reason to have any information in relation to Fahy and only for the bar staff, the offences may never have been known.
He agreed it was not a sophisticated effort to download images and that from the moment he was confronted, Fahy made admissions.
Mr Ó Braonáin said Fahy had engaged with a clinical psychologist who had prepared a report. indicating he was at the lowest level of reoffending and had engaged with therapy.
He said Fahy displayed significant evidence of remorse and accepted the children in the images had been abused and victimised.
Mr Ó Braonáin asked the court to have regard to testimonials from friends as well as the fact that Fahy had no previous convictions and had made appropriate admissions.
He submitted the images were of the lowest level and the quantity of the images was not in the mid or high ranges. He said Fahy had engaged in appropriate therapy and would not be expected to trouble the courts again.