Courts / Dublin / Report
Jail for man who engaged with online abuse conversation with boy (13)
Summary
Amit Chawla, 40, was sentenced at the Circuit Criminal Court after a jury found him guilty of two counts of possessing child pornography. The court heard that in June 2015, the mother of a boy, then aged 11, discovered a Skype conversation on her son's laptop in which the child had sent two naked photos to Chawla. Forensic analysis traced the conversation to Chawla, and the same images were subsequently found on his laptop in Rutland Place, Dublin. During the exchange, the boy stated he was 13, while Chawla identified himself as 34. Chawla responded to the images with comments including "sweet" and "nice," and wrote, "I'd like to have you in bed." Chawla was arrested and charged in 2018, denying the possession of the images. He has no previous convictions. Judge Karen O'Connor noted that the manner in which Chawla came into possession of the images was a significant aggravating factor, describing the conversation as having a "disturbing sexual nature." She emphasized that children must be protected from strangers engaging in such activity. Mitigating factors included the relatively small number of images and the fact that Chawla did not upload or share them. Judge O'Connor handed down a two-year sentence, suspending the final four months on a number of conditions. Chawla does not accept the jury's verdict and plans to appeal.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Jail for man who engaged with online abuse conversation with boy (13). Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- August 2016 Incident
- June 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2021-10-15 Publication
Case subjects
Appellant
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; Chawla does not accept the verdict of the jury and plans to appeal, his sentence hearing was told today. Children must be protected from strangers engaging in this kind of activity." Judge O'Connor handed down a two-year sentence and suspended the final four months on a number of conditions.
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