Suspended sentence for having child pornography

A man who had eight improper images of children in his possession contrary to the Child Pornography Act received a 12-month suspended prison sentence from Judge John O'Hagan at Cavan Circuit Court. Michael Lyons, (65), Apartment 7A, The Rural Harp Apartments, Market Square, Kingscourt, pleaded guilty to knowingly being in possession of child pornography at Carrick Dun, Barley Hill, Kingscourt, on June 18, 2002. A doctor's report indicated that the defendant's chances of re-offending were practically nil. However, Judge O'Hagan said that he was obliged to place Lyons on the Sex Offenders Register. In evidence Garda Gerry McDonald informed the court that on June 18, 2002, Sergeant White, Garda Tom Higgins and he went to a house in Kingscourt and spoke to Michael Lyons. They explained why they were there and Mr. Lyons invited them into the house. He showed them pornographic material in a bedroom. This included CDs, DVDs, pictures, some magazines and video tapes. Witness said they took possession of the hard drive of the defendant's computer. Of a total of 550 images later examined the vast majority were of adults; approximately 12 were of children and some of those also included adults. Altogether there were fewer than 10 images of children, said witness. Continuing, Garda McDonald said that Sergeant White arrested Mr. Lyons and took him to Bailieboro Garda Station. In a subsequent interview the defendant admitted that he downloaded the images. He agreed with gardaí that some of the people featured in the images looked very young. The younger girls were dressed to look older he thought. He felt that the age of 16 was alright to look at. Witness stated that two of the girls featured were aged 14. The defendant was on disability benefit, he was on medication for a heart condition and was not a well man. Explaining the delay in bringing the proceedings to court, witness revealed that Mr. Lyons had indicated during the garda interview that he may be going to France for medical treatment. He was subsequently in France for two to three years and when he returned he didn't notify the gardaí that he was back. It was at that stage that witness instituted proceedings again. He said that the defendant had a family who were now grown up. Replying to counsel for the defendant, Garda McDonald agreed that Mr. Lyons was co-operative with the gardaí and when they called to his house he immediately took them to the computer room, accepting full responsibility for the material on the computer. Witness agreed with counsel that the defendant was housebound, that someone gave him a computer and connected it to the internet. Defence counsel suggested to Garda McDonald that the internet was in its infancy at the time and that Mr. Lyons may not have been fully aware of what he was doing. Counsel further suggested that the sites the defendant entered did not require a purchase fee. Witness replied: "I don't believe so." Witness also accepted that the defendant didn't have any previous convictions. Seeking the clemency of the court for his client, defence counsel submitted that Michael Lyons was abandoned by his mother when he was seven and he was reared by his grandmother. Since the case came to light he had lost his partner and his home and rarely went outside. Describing possession of child pornography as a serious offence, Judge O'Hagan said the material found in the defendant's possession was in the medium to low range. He acknowledged that the offences related to eight years ago and that a lot of water had passed under the bridge since then. However, child pornography was an insidious thing and should be punished if it was found in possession of someone knowingly, he stated. He sentenced Michael Lyons to one year's imprisonment on each count but suspended those sentences on the defendant entering a bond to keep the peace for one year. He also recommended that the Probation Service provide therapy for the defendant as far as it was possible within the defendant's own area. In making this recommendation he noted that a doctor's report concluded that Lyons' likelihood of re-offending was absolutely nil. Lyons also had to live with the shame of what he did, remarked the judge.