Man arrested in connection with images of child abuse

A man has appeared in court charged in connection with having a large amount of images of child abuse at his home in Co Donegal.

Paul Cowell (53) appeared by videolink before Falcarragh District Court.

He was arrested following a Garda raid on his home at Meenacladdy, Gortahork on Saturday, December 11th.

He is charged with having 198 videos depicting extreme sexual and physical abuse of both male and female prepubescent children and babies being abused by both adult males and females, with other children involved.

He is also charged with having 303 images depicting similar scenes as well as possessing four video files of prepubescent boys and girls with their genital areas exposed.

These charges relate to unknown dates between January 1st, 2016, and July 27th, 2018, at his home at Meenacladdy.

Laptop seized

A laptop computer was seized during the raid on Mr Cowell’s home.

All charges are contrary to section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act of 1998.

Det Garda Enda Jennings said the victims were not known directly to Mr Cowell and many were in Asia and Europe.

Mr Cowell’s solicitor, Patsy Gallagher, said he was making a formal application for reporting restrictions in the case.

Judge Raymond Finnegan refused the application and allowed Mr Cowell to be named by the media.

Det Garda Jennings also said Mr Cowell’s wife wanted nothing more to do with him and that he was not welcome at his home address anymore.

Mr Cowell is originally from the UK but has been living in Co Donegal for more than a decade.

The case was adjourned until next Monday for possible directions in the case from the Director of Public Prosecutions.