A 42-year old married Co Clare man who sought out pornographic material of babies online has been jailed for three years.
At Ennis Circuit Court on Tuesday, Judge Gerald Keys jailed David Quinn of Sli an Fheargas, Clarecastle, Co Clare for knowingly possessing child pornography for the purpose of distribution, publication and exportation on September 4th, 2013.
Judge Keys imposed a concurrent two-year jail term on Mr Quinn for having in his possession 7,606 child porn images and 139 video files on the same date contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.
Judge Keys imposed a five-year term and suspended the final two years on the distribution charge and imposed a three-year jail term suspending the final year on the possession charge.
Judge Keys said that he treated the images found at the higher level of seriousness for sentencing purposes.
During the Garda investigation, Mr Quinn admitted to gardaí that he was a nepiophile – a person who is sexually attracted to babies and toddlers aged under three.
In a Garda interview in August 2017, Mr Quinn admitted that he had sought out pornographic content of girls and boys aged between zero and five.
Asked did he seek out pornographic material of babies, Mr Quinn said: “That is fair to say.”
Mr Quinn also admitted to creating child porn by taking photos of two young girls he had come into contact with in Co Clare and sharing images of one of the children with other paedophiles online in a file sharing system.
Mr Quinn told gardaí that his wife had no knowledge of his nepiophilia and his online activity.
In his judgment, Judge Keys said that child pornography is not a victimless offence and is a direct result of child abuse.
He said: “It involves an assault on the bodily integrity and innocence of a child.”
Concerning Mr Quinn distributing child porn, Det Garda Michael Fitzgerald from the National Cybercrime Bureau told the court that an examination of Mr Quinn’s two PCs show that he had distributed 29 unique images in 39 messages to other users.
Asked at his Garda interview in August 2017 had he ever acted offline over his sexual attraction to children, Mr Quinn said that he had taken photos of two young girls for his own sexual gratification.
Det Fitzgerald said that the case “is one of the more serious” he has come across due to the age range of the content and the distribution aspect.
Det Fitzgerald said that four images found on one of Mr Quinn’s computers are of children under one year old and are of a sexual nature.
Judge Keys said that Mr Quinn told gardaí he had been sexually abused from age three to 14.
Judge Keys said that Mr Quinn is married with no children and had a privileged family life growing up and never wanted for anything.
Judge Keys said that Mr Quinn plays tennis and has struggled with depression and has experienced intermittent suicide ideation.
Judge Keys said that Mr Quinn sought psychological help in 2010 because of his paedophilia relating to infants and minors.
Judge Keys said Mr Quinn has endeavoured to suppress his sexual fantasies about infant children and had not acted on these thoughts since 2013.
On the aggravating factors in the case, Judge Keys said such factors were the nature of the images; the effect it has on children; the age of the children involved; downloading and encouraging the distribution of the images.
On the mitigating factors in the case, Judge Keys took into account Mr Quinn’s guilty plea; that he had no previous convictions; had fully co-operated with gardaí; had shown remorse; appreciated the seriousness of the offence; had availed of help; has not come to the attention of gardaí since; has an insight into his wrong-doing and the risk of re-offence below average.
In evidence, Det Sgt Daragh O’Sullivan said that gardaí searched Mr Quinn’s home in September 2013 as a result of intelligence as part of an international investigation between the FBI in the US and the National Criminal Bureau here.
Det Sgt O’Sullivan said that the material seized wasn’t sent forward to the Cyber Crime unit until December 2016 and the delay was due to resource issues at the Cyber Crime unit at the time.
