Ballyhaunis man jailed for seven months for child porn on mobile

A Mayo man who has led a chaotic lifestyle has been jailed for seven months for possession of child pornography and ordered to undergo counselling following his release.

Seán O’Kane (35) of Tooraree, Ballyhaunis, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to the possession of child pornography discovered on his mobile phone during a searched of his home on April 27, 2021.

The Castlebar court heard that 42 images of child pornography were found on the device, including 25 consisting of children engaged in sexual activity and 17 of child exposure.

Judge Eoin Garavan was told that Mr O’Kane led a chaotic lifestyle and has a ‘deep-seated alcohol addiction’, and that he lives in a dilapidated house with his father in an isolated part of the county.

A psychiatric assessment of Mr O’Kane showed that he had no paedophilic tendencies and that addressing his alcohol difficulties is a more pressing matter.

Detective Garda Terry Brosnan told the court that during an investigation into child porn Mr O’Kane’s became a suspect due to his use of the Kik messaging app, which he said is primarily used to share videos of pornography.

Mr O’Kane had an account, but Det Garda Brosnan said that they were unable to access his account, as he had deleted the app from his phone and the company which is based in the US would not respond to their requests.

When Mr O’Kane’s house was searched he handed over his Vodafone mobile phone, where the illegal images were found.

When Mr O’Kane was asked about the material, he said that it ‘popped up’ while he was looking at adult porn on his phone and that was when he got interested.

Det Garda Brosnan said that the defendant cooperated with the Garda investigation and entered a signed plea in the district court before coming before the circuit court.

‘Sad case’

MR O’Kane, the court heard, has 13 previous convictions, including three for burglary and others for intoxication and public order offences.

Det Garda Brosnan agreed with Mr Desmond Dockery, senior counsel for the defendant, that Mr O’Kane and his father’s home is dilapidated with no carpets or fresh paint.

Mr Dockery said that his client’s mother died when he was a baby, and that after he completed his Leaving Cert, Mr O’Kane has drifted away from his friends, while alcohol scuppered any intentions of seeking employment.

He said he has lived a sad and lonely life for many years. He has neglected his own health, citing a growth on his face that he has left untreated, saying his client needs some sort of intervention for his medical, mental and social needs.

Mr Dockery said his client acknowledges he has an alcohol problem and that he has been ‘drying out’ while in custody for the last four weeks.

He added that Dr John Bogue, the clinical psychologist who assessed Mr O’Kane, said his client needs to receive treatment for his alcohol addiction, and he asked Judge Eoin Garavan to adjourned sentencing to allow him engage with the Probation Services.

Judge Garavan said this is a sad case for a number of reasons, acknowledging Mr O’Kane’s personal circumstances and his alcohol addiction. He noted that, according to Dr Bogue, he has no paedophilic tendencies and that he had not sought out child porn.

Judge Garavan accepted that he had cooperated fully with the gardaí and had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity. He sentenced him to seven months’ imprisonment, backdated the sentence to February 6. On his release, Mr O’Kane must engage with the Probation Services for two years and undergo counselling to deal with his alcohol issues.