Man came to Garda notice after viewing images of child sex abuse at work
A probation officer told the court that Heveron had expressed extreme remorse
A Mayo man was reported to Gardaí after he viewed child pornography while at work.
Peter Heveron, aged 36, of Cappaghduff, Tourmakeady, pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of possessing child pornography.
Gda Sgt Colm McHale told the court that a work colleague of Heveron contacted Gardaí on October 20, 2018, to state that they were concerned by inappropriate images they had seen on the defendant's screen through a reflection on a nearby window.
A search warrant was obtained by Sgt McHale and the defendant’s workplace was searched by Gardaí who seized two electronic devices - a HP Pavilion notebook computer containing 40 images and an external hard drive with 11 images and one video.
Sgt McHale told the court that 12 of the images were classified as 'category one', which is the most explicit sexual material relating to children. Eleven images were ‘child anime’ or animated images deemed to be 'category four', while the remainder were 'category two'.
Sgt McHale said Heveron was cooperative but did not admit to certain elements at the early stages of the investigation.
“He denied searching child pornography and said it was on his devices accidentally,” he added.
The devices were sent for analysis to Garda Forensics in 2018, but due to a backlog, the results were only received late last year.
A probation officer told the court that Heveron had expressed extreme remorse and was ashamed of his actions. He had made a donation of €500 to the Rape Crisis Centre.
Defending barrister Desmond Dockery said Heveron was cooperative throughout the investigation. The defendant had said his behaviour was rooted in an incident from childhood.
“Before drifting into this deviancy he was capable of having a normal relationship with other adults,” Mr Dockery remarked. “He descended into an abyss of darkness.” The defence barrister said Gardaí found a "modest number" of images on the defendant's electronic devices compared to other cases and the hard drive images had been long forgotten about.
Appealing for leniency, Mr Dockery said his client had a strong employment history and no previous convictions.
Describing the charges as "very serious", Judge Eoin Garavan said there were clearly child victims depicted in the disturbing images and video.
However, he acknowledged that the case may have its roots in the defendant's childhood.
“Certainly, it brought him to a dark place,” he said. “He does seem to have some insight into his offending.” Judge Garavan imposed a 14-month custodial sentence which he suspended on condition that Heveron remain under the care of the Probation Service for the next year and also complete the Safer Lives Programme for sexual offenders. In addition, the defendant must undertake any recommended counselling.
