Glengarriff man on child porn charges

A GLENGARRIFF man arrested in Hungary after he was caught with over 1,000 images of child pornography in Killarney has been jailed for two years.

Daniel Connolly (40), of Ardnatrush, Glengarriff, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography at Dromhall Lodge, Loretto Road, Killarney on June 27th, 2011.

Tralee Circuit Court (sitting in Limerick) this week heard that over 1,200 images of children, either engaging in a sexual activity or having their genitals exposed, were found after gardaí seized a computer and memory stick belonging to Connolly.

Connolly was arrested at Dublin Airport last December following his extradition from Hungary and was remanded in custody after he failed to appear before Tralee Circuit Court in October 2019.

The images had been deleted from Connolly’s computer but the files remained on the hard drive, the court heard.

Insp John Kelly said after receiving confidential information as part of Operation Rescue, gardaí in Killarney obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s rented accommodation in the town.

The charges relate to dates from October 8, 2008 – the day Connolly purchased the computer – to June 27, 2011.

He was employed with a cleaning company in Killarney at the time and was staying in rented accommodation in the town, Judge Tom O’Donnell heard.

Mr Rice said the accused was arrested in 2011 but released without charge, as gardaí sent the computer and USB stick for analysis.   

He was again arrested in January 2017, charged, and sent forward for trial at Tralee Circuit Court.  Connolly was arrested last November in Budapest, where he was teaching English, and extradited to Ireland.

Det Gda Richie Naughton had previously told the court he arrested Connolly at Dublin Airport on foot of a warrant and Connolly pleaded guilty last July. Connolly had two previous convictions for sexual assault and was sentenced to five years’ jail in 2005 for buggering and sexually assaulting two underage boys.

Judge O’Donnell said the previous convictions were a ‘concern’. He imposed a three-year prison sentence but suspended the final year on condition Connolly keep the peace and be of good behaviour for three years.

The sentence was backdated to November 2019 when the accused went into custody on remand.