A District Court judge has indicated he may not record a conviction against a man who has pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography.
John Markey (33), of Blackcastle, Navan, Co Meath, admitted the offence contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 at an earlier sitting of the court, and the case was adjourned to yesterday for preparation of reports, including one from the Granada Institute which provides treatment programmes for sex offenders.
The reports were handed to Judge John Brophy, who said Markey "seems to be progressing well" and that another six months remained of his programme.
He said he would adjourn the case until the programme had been completed, and indicated that if further reports were as favourable, "I may take a certain course and not record a conviction".
The Lighthouse Programme is a community-based treatment programme for sex offenders operated by the Probation and Welfare services in conjunction with the Granada Institute.
Markey was charged with one count of possession of child pornography at Blackcastle on May 27th, 2002.
His case was adjourned to February 4th, 2004.