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A bar manager was caught in possession of “upset stomach” files showing children as young as 12 months old being sexually abused, a court has heard.
Gardaí seized a laptop belonging to Matthew Johnstone (31) and it was found to contain 22 images and 13 videos of children between the ages of one and 12 who suffered sexual and physical abuse.
Johnstone, of Brabazon House, Cork Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Court to possession of child pornography at his home on November 19, 2018. He has no prior convictions.
Det Garda Tara Dolan told prosecuting John Berry that the Gardaí were tipped off by another police service of suspicious activity at an IP address that was linked to the defendant’s Cork Street address.
Det Garda Dolan said the apartment was searched and several electronic items were seized. Gardaí discovered that a laptop contained 22 images and 13 videos of sexually abused children.
Judge Pauline Codd said the images were “stomach-churning” even when describing them, “let alone seeing them.” He said he wanted to see documentary evidence of the steps the defendant has taken to rehabilitate himself.
The judge postponed the matter for completion on March 24.
Many of the images and videos were found in a recycle folder, indicating that they had been deleted. Some of the material was found in system generated files that are created when the files are viewed and are not normally accessible to the user.
Gardaí found that the laptop’s search history had a search for a “TOR hidden service child pornography website” that was used to access several of the video files.
Det Garda Dolan agreed with Fiona Murphy SC, arguing that there had been “limited viewing” of the video files. She agreed that Johnstone had told gardaí that he had been in contact with certain people through social media and that he became involved in crime through this.
Gravity
Ms. Murphy said her client’s marriage had broken up and that he was “on the way” to divorce. She said she had been employed in a restaurant for more than five years, but left this job after the violation came to light.
At an earlier hearing it was heard that Johnstone had worked as a bar manager.
Ms. Murphy said her client was “really sorry” and had withdrawn from this type of activity. She said that he fully understood the seriousness of her actions and had assisted two counselors.
The lawyer said that the court had heard cases in which the number of files amounted to hundreds or thousands and that was not the case here, and asked the court to impose a non-custodial sentence.
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