Joseph O'Connor convicted of child pornography offences

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

A jury convicted Joseph O'Connor of four child pornography offences at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and acquitted him on one count involving duplicates of two images. The proceedings were reported on 7 November 2018.

O'Connor had pleaded not guilty to five counts of possessing child pornography at his West Dublin home between 30 July and 2 August 2011.

Gardaí seized a laptop during a search of his home on 2 August 2011. Videos found in its recycle bin showed boys under ten being subjected to sexual acts. Other videos showed boys under 17 being subjected to sexual acts with a man, and there were images of children sexually exposed or subjected to sexual acts.

In garda interviews, O'Connor said he had never seen the material, denied downloading it and claimed someone else must have done so. He claimed a man who had visited his home for sex days before the seizure had corrupted his computer. He also said hundreds of men had visited his home for sex and could freely use his laptop.

Prosecuting counsel Alice Fawsitt said there was no evidence of a virus or that anything might have happened to the computer the weekend before it was seized.

Defence counsel Paul Carroll asked for time to gather reports for sentencing. Judge Elma Sheehan remanded O'Connor on continuing bail until 12 November.