A Clondalkin man who was caught in possession of child pornography after leaving his mobile phone containing the images behind in a pub has been given community service instead of a prison term.
Bar staff contacted gardai after finding the phone and discovering inappropriate images.
Lorcan Fahy (31) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of 25 images and one video of child pornography of children between eight and 16 years old at Laurels Pub, Clondalkin on September 17th, 2009.
Fahy said he had got into child pornography through looking at porn sites. “I am sorry and don’t know what I was thinking” he told gardai.
Fahy of Monastery Gate Lawn also pleaded guilty to possession of 79 downloaded images of child pornography of victims between the ages of 14 and 16 at his home on September 18th, 2009.
He has no previous convictions and the court heard the images fell into categories at the low end of the scale of child pornography, depicting erotic posing and non-penetrative sexual activity.
Judge Patricia Ryan confirmed her earlier indication that she would impose 240 hours community service and a two year suspended sentence. She also ordered Fahy be registered as a sex offender.
He also entered into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of two years, to comply with the probation services for 18 months and engage fully with treatment.
The judge said Fahy’s case was “in the lowest category” and noted he has no previous convictions.
She said aggravating factors were the serious nature of the charge and the amount of images found. Mitigating factors were his early plea of guilty and that he had no previous convictions.