Louth man jailed for possession of over 8,000 child sexual abuse images

A 47- year-old man who had over 8,000 child sexual abuse images on two devices seized in a search of his home in County Louth, has been jailed for 15 months at Dundalk Circuit Court.

Kevin Shevlin Junior of Hunterstown, Ardee pleaded guilty to possessing the images on a laptop on February second 2018, while a further count relating to a computer hard-drive was taken into consideration at the sentencing hearing.

The court heard the defendant had used an IP address that was identified as using a peer to peer network known to be used to distribute child abuse material.

Gardaí who executed a search warrant found the defendant in his own bedroom and both electronic devices were recovered from a chest of drawers there.

READ NEXT: Criminal Assets Bureau seized substantial Louth property

He made no admissions at the scene, but gave a password to one email account, couldn't remember the password for a second, and gave an incorrect password for a third.

An analysis of the laptop found 7,604 images were once present on it - 10 of which involved sexual abuse and the rest were of child exposure. The female victims ranged from eight to 13 years old.

A further 541 images were identified on the hard drive including 19 duplicates.

The defendant was arrested in December 2019, and denied through his solicitor, being guilty of the allegations. A file was prepared for the DPP and was sent forward for trial in November 2021, and ultimately entered his guilty plea last June.

The investigating garda sergeant confirmed he had never come to Garda attention before and she had no further interaction “bar his arrest”.

The 47-year-old hasn't worked for 16 years due to his mental health, which his Senior Counsel said related to being badly bullied at primary and secondary school.

Judge Dara Hayes noted the defendant was assessed as being at medium risk of reoffending but has strong family support and his treating doctor is of the view that he has the tools to deal with his social anxiety.

Judge Hayes added there was no evidence of distribution or an elaborate attempt to scrub software and he has an awareness of the impact of his offendinding.

However, the judge said the case involved a cycle of offending. He imposed a 21 months sentence, with the final six months suspended subject to conditions including entering a good behaviour bond and two years Probation Service supervision post release.

Judge Hayes said this is offending that usually takes place in secret and not in the open and involves vulnerable victims and the sexual abuse would “have lifetime impact impact on them”.

The judge also made a destruction order for the laptop and hard drive.