The new law criminalising the possession of child pornography is "a very good step forward", the head of a project aimed at tackling paedophile information networks has said.
Prof Max Taylor yesterday welcomed the Child Trafficking and Pornography Bill, published by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, last month. The Bill will allow sentences of up to 10 years for those involved in producing or distributing child pornography and up to five years for those possessing the material.
"It's a crime and we need to think about it as a crime," Prof Taylor said. "The number of people who possess child pornography, particularly from the Internet, hugely exceeds the number of people convicted of paedophile offenders."
Prof Taylor, from University College Cork, is head of the EU-funded project, Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe (COPINE). Its two-day conference began in Dublin yesterday, attended by about 80 delegates from 12 countries. It was not open to the public.
Mr O'Donoghue said he expected the Bill to be one of the first pieces of legislation to be dealt with when the Dail reconvenes. An expert group on child pornography on the Internet is to report to him before Easter, and he restated the Government's commitment to establish a paedophile register. The issue needed "informed debate" to "get it right first time", the Minister said. He had read reports of British paedophiles travelling to Ireland to avoid registration, which began there last September. But he rejected the idea that Ireland was a "soft-touch" for foreign paedophiles.
Det Chief Insp James Reynolds of Scotland Yard Paedophilia Unit said child pornography should be seen as "the visual depiction of serious sexual assault" rather than just "dirty pictures". Some of the material involved the rape of children as young as three. The Scotland Yard unit seized 15,000 suspect videos last year.
The unit also gathers intelligence on suspected paedophiles. "They're not sad old men; they're organised and very devious," he said. Many try to manoeuvre themselves into positions, like scout leaders, where they are involved with children. While some people who have child pornography may not abuse children, the material involved serious sexual abuse, he said.
Gloucestershire Chief Constable Dr Tony Butler said the implementation of the British paedophile register had "gone very well". Around 88 per cent of offenders had registered, with a shortfall of around 400 people.
Last month an offender was freed from a British prison and was put under 24-hour covert surveillance. Within four days of his release he attempted to re-offend, and police arrested him as he tried to assault a woman.
Dr Butler said there was "no evidence at all" of British offenders travelling to Ireland, but "we can't discount it".
