Man sent child abuse imagery to date

A man from Claremorris in County Mayo has been sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment, with the final six months suspended, after pleading guilty to distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material. Brian Payne, aged 39, sent explicit images of minors to a contact in Manchester via messaging application between January 2016 and January 2017. Gardaí discovered five such images following a search of his Dublin residence in February 2017. At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Elma Sheahan imposed the sentence while acknowledging Payne's cognitive limitations and directing that he undertake therapeutic intervention. The judge emphasised that such offending creates demand for child exploitation and is not victimless. Payne was ordered to comply with two years post-release supervision as a condition of the suspended portion of his sentence.