A married father of two who had 500 images of child pornography when gardaí raided his home and business as part of Operation Amethyst was yesterday jailed for nine months at Trim Circuit Court.
This is the longest custodial sentence imposed so far as a result of the prosecutions following the Garda operation into the use of the Internet to access child pornography.
Judge Raymond Groarke said it was necessary to consider a prison sentence as a deterrent as children "are the most vulnerable to being used for profit by perverse adults". He said "every still or photograph is a picture of a crime scene".
Kevin Hunt (40), Hunter's Lane, Ashbourne, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act on May 27th, 2002. Evidence in the case concluded yesterday.
Judge Groarke viewed some of the images which gardaí found on Hunt's computer equipment and described them as "a gross obscenity to any right-thinking person" and "the basest form of abuse".
The court heard yesterday that Hunt has been taking part in a therapeutic programme run by the Granada Institute and had made significant progress.
Dr Patrick Randle, principal clinical psychologist, said Hunt was assessed as being at a low risk of re-offending, he did not use the Internet to communicate with other people or to distribute the material and it seemed to serve a more personal need to collect and look at images for sexual or emotional gratification.
He had a difficult background, including difficult relationships with his family and peers, and appeared to have sought refuge in collecting and looking at the images, the court was told.
There was no evidence he was a risk to children.
Judge Groarke said there was no question that the children in the images were willing participants, their ages precluded that, but rather that adults with control over them were using them to produce material which certain people were prepared to pay for and a profit was made.
He noted the evidence of Dr Randle that the Granada Institute had yet to meet a client who took part in such Internet activity primarily as a criminal or financial exercise.
"There is substantial evidence that those who indulge in such actions have serious psychological lacking."
He took into consideration the co-operation of Hunt with gardaí, his early plea, his attending professional treatment, his insight into his wrongdoing, his assessment as being at a low risk of re- offending and that he had in the ordinary way contributed to society.
He had also attracted a degree of public odium and contempt, he said, as he jailed him for nine months.