Man found to have nearly 3,000 images of child sexual abuse avoids jail

Eimear Dodd

A Dublin man found to have possession of nearly 3,000 images of child sexual abuse material has been given a suspended sentence.

Keith Farrell (50), of Le Fanu Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material, known in law as ‘child pornography’, on dates in May and October 2021.

Detective Garda William Doyle told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that an investigation started after a referral was made to gardai.

Google supplied information to gardaí in May 2021 on foot of a court order and it transpired that Farrell had uploaded four images of child sexual abuse material to Google's infrastructure.

A search of his home was carried out the following October during which four exhibits were seized. These included a MacBook, on which 2,868 images were found in deleted files later recovered via software analysis.

Farrell was present during the search and fully co-operated. He made full admissions when interviewed. He has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since.

The court heard that four images were classed as ‘Category 1’, the most serious type of material.

Of the 2,868 images found in deleted files, over 1,300 were of a sexual nature and a further 458 depicted child exposure.

Det Gda Doyle agreed with defence counsel that his client provided gardai with his passwords and apologised.

It was further accepted that the deleted images were found in unallocated cluster files, which gardai accessed using high-level software analysis.

Counsel told the court that his client has a work history in construction and as DJ socially. He is not working presently due to health issues and is receiving social welfare.

Farrell had a difficult upbringing and turned to drink and drugs to cope, the court heard. He is a carer for his mother and his other personal circumstances were also outlined to the court.

Judge Martin Nolan noted that possession of child sexual abuse material is a “well-trodden crime in this court”.

He noted the court must follow “advice” given by the higher courts, which have indicated that a non-custodial option must be considered in the absence of aggravating factors.

Having considered the facts of the case and Farrell's circumstances, the judge noted aggravating factors, such as previous convictions or distribution of this material, were not present in this case.

He imposed a two-year sentence, suspended on strict conditions.