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A man who sexually exploited a 12-year-old boy online by posing as a 17-year-old girl has been jailed for a year.
Kevin Conway was also caught with more than 400 images of child pornography and 12 videos of Gardaí when his apartment was searched. The images were in the most serious category of child pornography, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.
Conway’s offense came to light when one of his roommates noticed a picture on his phone that appeared to depict a young child involved in a sexual act. When their home was searched by Gardaí, Conway told them: “There are sick things on my phone.” She has no prior convictions.
Conway (34) of Oaktree Grove, Laurel Lodge, Carpenterstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography at his home on July 30, 2016.
He also pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of producing child pornography, and one count of distributing it in June and July 2013.
The court heard that Conway created a Skype account under the profile name ‘Irish Pooh Bear’ before befriending the girl in June 2013 and encouraging her to undress and perform sexual acts while recording her without her knowledge. She did this four or five times, the court heard.
Later, Conway shared a video of the girl with another person by the profile name ‘Dylan Dublin’.
When the victim, then 18 years old, was contacted by Gardaí some years later, she told them that she thought Conway was a 17-year-old girl.
She said she suggested meeting in person, but they never did. She began to suspect that the person’s face was always hidden on camera and contact between them eventually ceased. She said she never told anyone.
She refused to make an impact statement to the victim.
When Gardaí searched Conway’s house following his flatmate’s warning, they found him trying to delete files from his laptop. However, he later cooperated with them and admitted to possessing the child pornography images and videos, including those he had made of the girl.
The Gardaí investigation uncovered 403 images of child pornography and 12 videos, most of which were placed in the “most severe” category, which showed children being subjected to sexual acts by adults.
Colman Fitzgerald SC, in defense, said his client was “someone who suffers from pedophilia.” He said that Conway had been looking at pornography since 2008.
In a psychological report to the court, Conway expressed “shock, shame and disgust” at some of the images in his possession. He said there were “no words” to express his remorse for what he did to the 12-year-old victim and that he was “tremendously sorry” for what he had done.
Fitzgerald said his client now feels “disgust and shame” at his actions.
The court heard that Conway lost his job last July after he told his employer about the court case. Since then she has not found a job.
In sentencing Conway, Judge Pauline Codd noted that Conway’s possession of child pornography was not a victimless crime, as the children involved were subjected to “depraved acts.” When sexually exploiting the young woman, she noticed that Conway deliberately used a profile name to attract boys.
“He made a video for his own sexual gratification using a female name to pose as a woman,” the judge said.
She accepted that Conway was sorry for his actions.
The judge handed down a sentence of three years, but suspended the last two under a series of conditions.
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