Courts / Cork / Report
Suspended sentence for man caught with child abuse material
Summary
A 26‑year‑old man from Cork, Michael Mullen, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography and had a further three counts considered. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced him to a suspended two‑and‑a‑half‑year term with strict conditions and ordered him to be supervised by the Probation Service for 18 months. The judge noted that the material found by Gardaí was serious and in the explicit range, and that it was not accidental. Mullen was arrested in April 2019 during Operation Ketch after a Dropbox account linked to his former address was investigated. Garda Tara Power described the material as including images and videos of children aged six to twelve, some depicting sexual acts. Mullen cooperated, handing over a phone and providing a PIN. He had held the images for weeks and had wanted to inform Gardaí.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Suspended sentence for man caught with child abuse material. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- April 2019 Incident
- May 16, 2019 Incident
- 2022-11-17 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Passing sentence today, Judge Martin Nolan told Mullen that it was a "close-run thing whether or not to imprison" him. He handed Mullen a suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence on strict conditions.
Places mentioned
- Summerstown Road
- Cork
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Dublin's South Circular Road
Topics
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