Man caught with child porn not charged for 3.5 years due to garda backlog, court hears

A man from Lanesborough has been convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Paul Devine, aged 45, pleaded guilty to the offence relating to material found at his home in April 2011. An investigation by the Garda Computer Crime Investigation unit discovered 80 photographs and 25 videos of child sexual abuse on his laptop. Gardaí also established that Devine had accessed an image-sharing website more than 10,000 times. Judge Pauline Codd imposed an 18-month suspended sentence, suspended for two years on strict conditions. The court heard that a significant delay in processing evidence by the garda unit meant Devine was not arrested and charged until November 2014, some three and a half years after the initial search warrant was executed. The defence noted Devine had no previous convictions and had undertaken psychological counselling since the conviction.