Cork court: Teen caught with the most serious category of child abuse images on his phone 

Parents were advised to check the contents of their children’s mobile phones after a 14-year-old was caught with the most serious category of child abuse images and videos on his iPhone.

Detective Garda Brendan Murray said gardaí were alerted in this case by the online child exploitation unit of An Garda Síochána about this teenager’s Snapchat account in Cork and the uploading of child sex abuse material, categorised as child pornography.

On July 4, 2021 the 14-year-old’s home was visited by gardaí to carry out a search under warrant. 

Of the 41 files found, 27 of them were of the most serious category of children under the age of 12 engaged in or witnessing sexual activity.

Judge Boyle said that while it was not a large quantity of this material compared to some cases coming before the courts it was important to state that one such image is one too many.

Det Garda Murray said the defendant was aged 14 at the time that this child pornography was found on his phone. He is now 16. He cannot be identified as he is a juvenile and his case was dealt with in camera. The boy’s mother and grandfather were present for the case.

Ashamed

Defence barrister Donal O’Sullivan said that the boy’s first reaction was that he was so ashamed and so embarrassed he could not bring himself to accept responsibility at first. Ultimately, he did so and pleaded guilty to the crime.

“He has a very stable and supportive family. He has every support that would enable him to lead a pro-social life,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Judge Boyle said that the children in the images were being sexually exploited somewhere in the world and they are re-victimised when the images are viewed anywhere.

Noting the defendant’s own age at the time the material was accessed, the judge said: “You were a child yourself. You yourself were vulnerable. It was covid times and you did not have the structure of school. You got involved in Snapchat sharing of funny videos and so forth and it got much more serious.

Scary

“Your phone was not being checked regularly. It is very scary for parents of any teenaged child. Every teenager in the country has access to Snapchat as far as I can see.

“It is very concerning that you were exposed to these images. You did not have the maturity – this case could have been dealt with by a garda juvenile liaison scheme. Everybody understands now… You were exploited by other people in the Snapchat group.

“It is vital that parents regularly check their children’s phones. This is not to blame your mother or your family who are now painfully aware of what can come through phones. It is deeply unfortunate that you are before the court,” Judge Boyle said.

Imposing six-months detention, this was deferred until February next year for confirmation by the probation service that he is taking every step to becoming a productive member of society. 

Progress of that kind may allow for a suspension of the sentence at that that time.