Man receives suspended sentence for child porn possession

A THIRTY-seven-year old man received a two-year suspended jail sentence after he was found in possession of 71 images of child pornography.
Anthony Woodley who previously lived at an address in Ballinrobe, pleaded guilty to the charges of possession of child pornography, which was found on his PC and laptop on October 12, 2011, at an address of Seaview Terrace, Killala.
Gardaí were alerted by their colleagues in the Child Exploitation Unit in Alberta, Canada, of online chat between an undercover police officer and a ‘Helen Simmons’ who was making her six year old available for sex and online viewing. The user was traced to the address at Sea View Terrace, Killala, where Mr Woodley was living at the time. Mr Woodley also had a previous address at Ballinrobe.
Detective Sergeant Gerry Lee said the house was searched and a PC hard drive, an external hard drive and a laptop were seized. When they were viewed, 71 images of child pornography were discovered. The images included young girls under 15 engaged in sexual activity.
The examination of the devices also discovered online chat where subjects, including raping young people, were discussed with other users. Detective Sgt Lee confirmed that this was ‘purely chat’ and that no children were involved.
When Mr Woodley was arrested, he admitted responsibility for the images and said he was embarrassed and disgusted. He has no previous convictions.
The court heard that the devices were not examined by the Computer Crime Investigation Unit in Dublin until 2016. The delay was criticised by Judge SeΡn Ó BronnachΡin who said the delay was a nationwide problem and inexcusable.
Mr Diarmuid Connolly, counsel for the defendant said his client suffered a childhood of isolation and bullying, which resulted in him engaging in drink and drugs and turning to porn. He said this escalated, and resulted in a downward spiral. He said Mr Woodley was now ‘zealous’ to ensure he receives any rehabilitation available to him.
Ms Judy Quinlan, probation officer, explained that in her opinion Mr Woodley was dealing ‘first hand’ with the matter and had admitted to his deviant behaviour. She described the Safer Lives Programme, which deals with rehabilitating sex offenders, as an excellent service, but said it was not available in the west of Ireland. She told Judge Ó BronnachΡin that having spoken to the defendant, he is committed to travelling to Dublin to attend the programme, and she believes he would benefit from it.
Mr Connolly said his client had got a fright from the arrest and from having the matter hang over him for the last six years. He said Mr Woodley had the support of his partner and parents and has no previous conviction.
Judge Ó BronnachΡin described the activity that Mr Woodley was involved in as genuinely worrying, but he said he also accepted that he was genuinely remorseful. He accepted that evidence of Ms Quinlan that more needed to be done in rehabilitation, and due to these and other factors he imposed a two-year sentence, suspended for two years.
The conditions of the suspended sentence, include attending and completing the Safe Lives Programme and remaining under the supervision of the probation services. A destruction order was granted for the pornographic material.