A 52-year-old Co Waterford man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for having child pornography including photographs and videos he had made of Chernobyl children from Belarus who had been on holidays in his home.
Sentencing John Peppard (52), Mount Melleray, Cappoquin, at Carlow Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Alice Doyle described his behaviour as "a gross abuse of those children".
She said: "If it happened to Irish children there would have been a public outcry and the court deems it no different that they are from Belarus."
She ordered that Peppard's name be added to the Register of Sex Offenders for 10 years and banned him from having young children staying at his home.
The judge suspended the final six months of the prison sentence "in the hope that he may be rehabilitated". But noting that there was a risk he might reoffend, she ordered Peppard to continue seeing a psychologist and to undertake any treatment recommended by the Probation and Welfare Service.
She further ordered that Peppard have "nothing to do" for 10 years with Chernobyl Children Appeal Ireland, a charitable group involved in providing assistance to children affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster.
The court had heard that Peppard, who is single, a sweetshop owner and retired insurance company employee, had worked as a volunteer with the charity since 1995. He had visited Belarus up to three times a year and had also brought 10-14-year-old boys to his home in Waterford for four- to eight-week holidays.
In 2003, a chemist in Lismore contacted gardaí after becoming concerned about the nature of photographs left in to be developed for Peppard.
A subsequent investigation by Dungarvan gardaí, led by Supt Tom O'Grady and Sgt Pauline Sheehan, uncovered a cache of child pornography at Peppard's home including numerous images of naked 10-14-year-old Belarussian boys showering and swimming.
The gardaí seized a number of videos, a digital camera and a laptop computer which contained 143 images of child pornography (a mix of photos taken by Peppard and images downloaded from internet websites). Gardaí believe the photos and videos were made at locations in both Waterford and Belarus.
The judge said "this is a serious case of possession of material that may not be classed as pornography but it is - in effect - to the person who used it". Having viewed some of the material, she said it was "upsetting" and could not accept the defence argument that it was "on the lower end of the scale" of gravity.
She accepted that Peppard had not gained commercially from the images; had pleaded guilty; had apologised; was co-operative with gardaí and was "adamant"he has never sexually abused a child.
But she found it "worrying" that Peppard "thought what he was doing was horseplay".
In earlier evidence gardaí had told the court that when Peppard was questioned, he described the making of the videos as "harmless fun" which "the kids enjoyed".
Judge Doyle said his actions were "most inappropriate" and "disturbing" and "should not be condoned".
"This man put himself in a position of trust and volunteered to assist with this charity and took these children into his home". She said "these children are direct victims of his conduct and will be affected by it".
Peppard, who was dressed in a navy jacket, blue shirt and wine-coloured tie, was accompanied by two female companions in court. After sentencing, he was driven to prison in a waiting squad car.
Afterwards, Sgt Sheehan said gardaí were "pleased" to see the case brought to a conclusion and hoped "it would not negatively impact on the fantastic work Chernobyl Children Appeal Ireland does for children".