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Man who viewed child abuse material for years avoids jail
Summary
Ciaran Moore, 63, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly possessing child pornography for five years. He admitted to viewing the material online, never printing or acting on it, and claimed he had been a child sexual abuse victim himself. The court noted his diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease and his stable condition, as well as his charitable donations. Judge Melanie Greally imposed a two‑and‑a‑half‑year custodial sentence but fully suspended it, subject to strict conditions: no unsupervised access to children and continued monitoring of his electronic device use by his daughter. The judge highlighted the volume of images (536) and videos (35) found, depicting children aged one to fourteen, and acknowledged the mitigating factors of his health and abuse history. The case remains a suspended sentence with conditions rather than custodial imprisonment.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Man who viewed child abuse material for years avoids jail. Charges or matters: knowingly being in possession of child pornography on November 30, 2016. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- November 30, 2016 Incident
- July 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 2016 Other
- May 2019 Incident
- February 2018 Other
- 2021-03-18 Publication
Why: "Abominable acts have to have occurred in order to create these images or videos in the first instance," Mr O'Higgins said before he asked the court to accept that the person who views the material is not the person who subjects the children to this abuse. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: knowingly being in possession of child pornography on November 30, 2016 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: By Sonya McLean & Brion Hoban A man who admitted to gardaí that he had been viewing child abuse material for five years has received a fully suspended sentence. Judge Greally sentenced Moore to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the entirety of the sentence on strict conditions including that he not have any unsupervised access to children and that his daughter continue to monitor his use of electronic devices.
Places mentioned
Topics
Sexual Offences Stage Sentence
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