A solicitor accused of knowingly possessing child pornography told gardaí that he had used his credit card in 1999 to access images of naked children in sexual poses but then cancelled his subscription to the website, a jury has heard.
Mr Seán Foley (38), Percy Place, Dublin 2, has pleaded not guilty to having child pornography stored in temporary internet files on his computer at Merrion Row on May 27th, 2002.
Det Sgt Colm O'Malley told Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC, prosecuting, that on foot of a search warrant, gardaí went to Mr Foley's address where it was determined he had had access to virtual child pornography.
According to gardaí, Mr Foley also admitted to accessing child pornography on his computer at his office on Merrion Row.
Mr Foley said he had viewed images of children of seven years and over in "disgusting" sexual positions but that he had cancelled his subscription to the website due to "an immense guilt complex".
Mr Foley was further questioned on November 13th, 2002 at Irishtown Garda station, Dublin, where he was shown images which had been retrieved during forensic analysis of his computer.
He then told gardaí that he had never seen the images before and was surprised that they were found on his computer as he "never did any downloading". He said his understanding of computer technology led him to believe that websites can send a "cookie" to the computer's hard drive or "leave a fingerprint".
He said he was "firm in his mind" that he had never seen the images before and could not account for why they were on the hard drive of his computer.
Mr Foley said during the second interview with gardaí that he did not actively search for child pornography on the internet but that they would appear when he was accessing other sites. He said he would look at the free preview tours but never stored or downloaded images.
Under cross examination, Det Sgt O'Malley agreed with Mr Dennis Vaughan Buckley SC, defending, that Mr Foley had co-operated fully with gardaí and had given up his right to ask for a search warrant to be obtained for the Merrion Row premises.
The hearing continues .