Courts / Mayo / Report
Man has 10-year sentence for child porn increased after more images are analysed
Summary
James Clarke, aged 62, formerly of Devlis Cottage in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, has had his sentence for child pornography offences increased by eighteen months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Clarke was originally sentenced in 2013 to ten years imprisonment, with the final two years suspended, after admitting possession and distribution of child pornography. Further analysis of images and videos recovered during the same investigation, delayed due to a backlog at the Garda Cyber Crime Bureau, led to additional charges. Clarke pleaded guilty to possessing 785 images on devices at his Mayo address in 2012 and 1009 images plus three videos found at a former Drogheda address in 2010. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a consecutive three-and-a-half-year sentence with two years suspended, citing the need to punish additional wrongdoing while acknowledging Clarke's cooperation, prison conduct, and the systemic delay. Two years probation supervision was ordered.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Man has 10-year sentence for child porn increased after more images are analysed. Charges or matters: possession of 785 images of child pornography on devices at his address in Mayo in January 2012 and 1009 images and three videos on devices at a former address in Drogheda in December 2010. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- January 2012 Incident
- December 2010 Incident
- September 2016 Other
- 2017-12-14 Publication
Why: The material in today's case was also retrieved during the garda investigation into Clarke but analysis of it was delayed for a number of years because of a "backlog" at the unit. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: possession of 785 images of child pornography on devices at his address in Mayo in January 2012 and 1009 images and three videos on devices at a former address in Drogheda in December 2010 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He noted that Clarke had had his own difficulties in his past but said what he did was "unforgivable." Judge Nolan said he had to try and envisage what sentence would have been imposed if all the material had been dealt with together at sentencing in 2013. He imposed a three and a half year sentence with the final two years suspended to run consecutive to his current term.
Places mentioned
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