A Bandon man who was caught in the possession of child pornography was remanded in custody last Friday after gardaí objected to bail, because they feared the defendant might commit further offences while on bail.
A BANDON man who was caught in the possession of child pornography was remanded in custody last Friday after gardaí objected to bail, because they feared the defendant might commit further offences while on bail.
Andrew Gray of Flat 3, 85 North Main St, Bandon appeared in Bandon District Court last Friday after being arrested by gardaí the previous day.
The defendant is charged with having child pornography in his possession on May 10th 2017, namely 47 images which depict children under 17 engaged in explicit sexual activity or witnessing explicit sexual activity and five movies which depict children under 17 engaged in explicit sexual activity or witnessing explicit sexual activity.
He is also charged with having in his possession a total of 156 images which depict children under 17 with their private parts exposed.
Detective Garda Elizabeth O’Sullivan told the court she arrested the defendant on Thursday September 14th and charged him with the offences, and handed him a copy of the charge sheet. The defendant made no reply, she said.
A search was carried out at the defendant’s flat on foot of information received from gardaí, and a laptop and phones were seized from there.
‘The accused accepts the computer was his, and that he downloaded images and was attracted to children,’ said Detective Garda O’Sullivan.
Solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said that his client has lived in Ireland for over 20 years and that there was no chance of a flight risk, and that his client will be tried by indictment.
‘He has no equipment, so he can’t download anything and he’s pleading guilty to the charges,’ said Mr Taaffe.
‘He agrees to reside where he is and agrees not to access the internet while out on bail. He’s before the Circuit Court on similar charges and yet he was granted bail there.’
Insp Brian Murphy said he wasn’t satisfied that the defendant would not access the internet and pointed out that the offences were carried out while the defendant was on bail on other charges.
‘Since he was granted bail, he has breached the conditions as he has committed offences again. It’s a safety issue and it’s very serious charges here,’ said Insp Murphy.
‘It can’t be policed and An Garda Siochána would not be able to police it.’
Insp Murphy also told the court that the defendant has nine previous convictions, but that none were for sexual offences.
Judge Mary Horgan said she listened very carefully to both sides but that it would appear the offences were committed while on bail, and she therefore refused bail and remanded the defendant in custody to appear at a future sitting of the court.