Judge wants 'candour' from man found with child porn
The case was heard at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A Claremorris man was found to be in possession of more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography after Gardaí were alerted by Interpol.
Kevin Reilly, aged 48, of Curraghadooey, Scardaune, Claremorris pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of possessing child pornography.
Prosecuting barrister Patrick Reynolds told the court that An Garda Síochána's Online Child Exploitation Unit (ONCE) received correspondence in June 2019 from Interpol in Manchester relating to the social media platform WhatsApp.
Interpol reported that Hampshire Police in the United Kingdom were investigating a person who was suspected of sexual offences against children, including the sexual exploitation of a 13-year-old child in the UK. Arising out of this inquiry, two Irish telephone numbers were identified as being involved in the case.
Det Gda Jonathan Ryan made an application to obtain the subscriber details of one of the numbers and it came back as the defendant, Kevin Reilly. It was not possible to identify the person connected to the second Irish number.
Gardaí established that Reilly lived alone in rented accommodation in Claremorris and worked locally.
Det Gda Sinead Caheny said a warrant was obtained under Section 7 of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 and his home was searched on February 7, 2020. Twelve pieces of electronic hardware were seized, including five Samsung and Vodafone mobile phones, two camcorders, an Asus laptop, a Sony camera, two SD cards and a SIM card.
Gda Sean Ryan downloaded 1,164 indecent images and 177 videos from the devices. The court heard that 322 images and 124 videos were classified as containing 'category one' material, which is the most explicit type of child pornography, involving children aged under 17 engaged in sexual acts. One image related to an infant aged just two to three years.
Another 842 images and 53 videos were 'category two' material, showing children exposing their genitalia.
Det Caheny said Reilly was arrested on September 30, 2021, and brought to Claremorris Garda Station where he was interviewed three times. The defendant did not cooperate or make any admissions but pleaded guilty to the two charges in October 2022. He has no previous convictions.
Defending barrister Desmond Dockery said Reilly had visited a number of adult dating sites such as Plenty of Fish and Meet 24 and had used a credit card to purchase a subscription. He told Gardaí that “teens came up but not children” on the latter website.
“He denied accessing child pornographic sites at least insofar as he said he didn’t think that he had done so and he denies subscribing to gain such access,” Mr Dockery said.
Reilly informed Gardaí during his first interview that he was the only person with access to his phone and social media.
Judge Eoin Garavan said he was concerned that the defendant had previously claimed he was the victim of "bribery".
“He claimed he had no interest in child porn, but he was made to download it because otherwise they were going to post pictures of him up,” Judge Garavan said. “Dr John Bogue [psychologist] doesn’t believe that and neither do I.”
Judge Garavan said he needed more "candour and truth" from Reilly. He adjourned the case until February 28 next for an updated report from Dr Bogue and the Probation Service.
