Paedophile caught with violent images of infants being tied up and abused loses appeal

Fiona Magennis

A paedophile who was repeatedly caught with high volumes of child abuse material - including violent images of infants being tied up and abused - has failed to have his five-and-a-half-year jail term reduced on appeal.

One of the images on a device seized from David McGrath depicted an infant child in nappies being sexually abused while “hog tied” with electrical tape, his sentencing hearing was told.

The 32-year-old has two previous convictions for possession of child pornography from 2017 and is deemed to be at high risk of reoffending.

McGrath of Desmond Street, South Circular Road, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography at his home, on December 30th, 2018 and December 16th, 2020.

He was jailed for five and a half years by Judge Elma Duffy at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in February last year.

She imposed consecutive sentences totalling eight-and-a-half-years but suspended the final three years for a period of six years on strict conditions requiring McGrath to remain under supervision.

McGrath had appealed his jail term, arguing the sentence was “disproportionate” and represented an error in principle.

Dismissing McGrath’s appeal on Tuesday, Judge Patrick McCarthy said the sentencing judge had made no error and acted within her margin of discretion.

He said in the absence of guidelines, the court must make a judgment in accordance with its cumulative experience and by reference to established principles of sentencing generally.

In dismissing the appeal, Judge McCarthy said the cumulative sentence was neither excessive nor disproportionate and no error in principle had been identified.

At the appeal hearing, Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing, representing McGrath, argued the headline sentence was disproportionate and the ultimate sentence imposed of eight and a half years, with the final three years suspended, was “excessive”.

He suggested the judge gave too much weight to the aggravating features and failed to give sufficient weight to the mitigating factors in the case.

In response, David Perry, for the State, said the overall sentence imposed was “well within the range of the sentencing judge’s discretion”.

He said one of the starkest aspects of the case was the “brazenness” of the offending, noting the second tranche occurred ten months after McGrath had been interviewed in relation to the initial charges. Only “limited weight” could be given to the mitigating factors, he said.

While McGrath had engaged in treatment, counsel said this remained at an early stage, with previous attempts having been unsuccessful.

“It only warrants a deduction of a limited level,” he added.

McGrath’s sentencing hearing was told 1,730 images of child sexual abuse material were found on a laptop seized during an initial search of the defendant’s home.

The court heard 708 images were in “Category 1” depicting very young children, between the ages of one and eight years old, engaged in or witnessing sexual activity.

A further 1,022 images depicted children of a similar age with their genital or anal areas exposed.

McGrath was arrested and interviewed but released without charge at that point.

Gardaí again searched McGrath’s home in December 2020. They asked if he knew why they were there and he replied: “Yes, the same thing as before.”

Garda seized a phone and laptop and were provided with passwords by McGrath.

The devices were analysed, and 445 illegal images were found on the laptop, with 97 in category 1 and 348 in category 2. Most of the images depicted children under the age of five, with a large percentage involving children under the age of two years old.

Gardaí found just over 2,200 such images on the smartphone, with 695 images in category 1 and the remainder in category 2. These images depicted children from infants up to ten years old.

McGrath has two previous convictions for possession of child pornography imposed at Gorey District Court in 2018. He received a suspended sentence but was subject to the requirements of the sex offenders register for five years.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.