A 66-year-old man found in possession of over 5,283 child pornographic images, has been remanded on bail by Judge Katherine Delahunt pending sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Maurice Doran, formerly of Rossmore Lawn, Templeogue, Dublin, but now living in a Bray hotel, told gardaí in 2001 that he had a long-standing "entrenched" sexual interest in children which dated back over 40 years.
Doran pleaded guilty to possessing child pornographic images at his home on May 26th, 2001, and again on December 15th, 2004. The images showed both male and female children, though predominantly male, aged between 12 months and 15 years, naked and engaging in various sexual acts with both children and adults.
He told gardaí he was not hurting the children himself but "I am looking at what other people have done and I know this is wrong". Judge Delahunt placed him on the sex offenders register and adjourned sentencing after viewing a sample of the images, as she wanted time to consider a number of reports before the court.
Doran spent most of his working life in Irish Distilleries before becoming a driver for Cheeverstown, a centre for children with disabilities.
Det Sgt James Madden told Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, prosecuting, that Doran was on bail awaiting sentence for possession of 2,033 of these images when his wife, along with her two adult children, searched their home and discovered another CD-rom containing further images.
She contacted gardaí and a subsequent search on December 15th, 2004, revealed a further 3,250 images. Doran accepted full responsibility for images found on a laptop and 235 floppy disks and admitted he was aware that it was an offence since 1988 to view child pornography.
Sgt Madden said documents written by Doran which he had initialled "MD" and numbered were found on his laptop. One of the documents, "MD 27", indicated he had no concept at all of the damage that had been done to the children in the images.
Doran wrote that he thought the criminalisation of viewing child pornography was an "unfair development" which he resented and described it as a "witch-hunt". He added that he would have to catalogue his "collection" in the future. He had stored the images in an organised manner which allowed him easy access.
He told gardaí he had at first collected images of naked boys from birthday cards and had later scanned these images into his computer. He admitted that his main purpose for installing an internet connection in his home was to allow him to view child pornography.
Sgt Madden said Doran started attending the Granada Institute for treatment after he was charged in October 2003, and was on bail for the offence when the second collection of images was discovered in 2004.
He agreed with Luan Ó Braonáin, defending, that Doran was deeply troubled over his attraction to children and that he found the "MD 27" document "disturbing" and said that if it became public knowledge people would think him a "monster".
Garda Geraldine Keohane told Ms Ní Raifeartaigh the search of Doran's home in 2004 revealed a box full of documentation in relation to the child trafficking and pornography legislation, writings on Doran's group sessions at the Granada Institute and books on child pornography, in addition to CD-rom and floppy disks containing a further 3,250 images.
Gardaí also found further documentation labelled MD 50, 57, 58 and 64, dated between February and May 2003, after the first search, which stated that he approved of and was "deeply enriched" by child pornography. Garda Keohane said Doran no longer resided in the family home.
The Granada Institute report concluded that it was absolutely necessary for Doran to continue with psychotherapy to reach the lowest level risk of reoffending.