Alan McCrea jailed for possessing child sexual abuse material

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Alan McCrea was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 21 November 2024 to three and a half years in prison, with the final nine months suspended for two years under strict conditions. Judge Elva Duffy also placed him under probation supervision for two years after release and directed him to abstain from alcohol for two years after release.

McCrea pleaded guilty to seven counts of possession of child pornography. The charges concerned possession at an address in Porterstown, Dublin 15, on 5 February 2018. The proceedings were reported on 21 November 2024.

The court heard that gardaí seized 47 devices and a child mannequin dressed in a school uniform during a search of McCrea’s home. More than 1.29 million images and videos of child sexual abuse material were found on 15 devices using analysis software. Defence counsel Seoirse O Dunlaing asked the court to consider that there was no evidence McCrea had produced or distributed any of the material found on the devices.

Judge Duffy said the offending had continued for a significant period and involved an enormous amount of category one material. She considered McCrea’s early guilty pleas and remorse, among other mitigating factors, and said he would require counselling, probation supervision and alcohol treatment.