Courts / Kildare / Report

Suspended sentence for man caught with serious child abuse material

Summary

A 51‑year‑old man named Richard Hayes of Ledwill Park, Kilcock, Co. Kildare, pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of possessing child pornography. The court found 33 videos and 84 images on two phones belonging to Hayes, including a toddler being raped, a boy with a disability forced to perform oral sex, and a boy being masturbated by a male adult. Twenty‑six of the videos and 57 images were classified as category one, the most serious category for child sexual abuse material. Gardaí also discovered hundreds of images of pre‑teen girls in swimwear and some hardcore pornography. Hayes had no prior convictions. The judge, Martin Nolan, imposed a two‑year sentence, fully suspended, and placed Hayes on the sex offenders' register, stating he was unlikely to re‑offend and no Probation Service involvement was required. The sentence was handed down on 18 February 2025.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Suspended sentence for man caught with serious child abuse material. Charges or matters: one count of possessing child pornography at an address in Kingswood, Dublin on November 16, 2019. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• November 16, 2019 Incident
• 2025-02-18 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

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Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report