Annsborough man caught with child porn on phones

Annsborough man caught with child porn on phones

14 November 2012

AN Annsborough man has been placed on probation for three years after police found pornographic images of children on his mobile phones.

Forty four year-old Barry McEvoy had 11 images of children on three phones which were found by police when they raided his New Meadow Row home on August 9 last year.

At Downpatrick Crown Court McEvoy admitted 11 charges of possessing the photographs and a separate charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image which related to an adult.

Of the photographs of the children, eight were classed at category one — the lowest level of severity on a scale of one to five — one was of level two and one was of level four. The level four photograph involved a six year-old.

Prosecution barrister, Mr. David McDowell, told the court the children ranged in age from six to around 15 years old.

He explained that during the search the police also found evidence to support the view that McEvoy was in contact with known paedophiles who supply such pictures.

“It was found he had been in contact with men who had been convicted of inciting people to supply pictures to others,” said Mr. McDowell. “Top-up cards from these men were found in McEvoy’s possession.”

Police also discovered that McEvoy had been using chat rooms and had been pretending to be a young girl, using the names Chloe and Clare. Mr. McDowell said it was clear McEvoy had a sexual interest in children.

However, while these were aggravating factors there was no evidence that McEvoy had been involved in supplying photographs to others.

Defence barrister Mr. Noel Dillon, said there were only a small number of images involved which McEvoy had on his mobiles and which he had found through chat rooms.

He said while the defendant accepted it was a serious matter there was no grooming of children and no distribution of the images.

Mr. Dillon said McEvoy had been a lorry driver until he was “summarily dismissed” when the offences came to light. His wife had also left him and he had moved away from his home village.

“He has brought shame and ridicule on himself because of his behaviour. It is unlikely this man will enter into any criminal behaviour again, especially this type of behaviour,” said Mr. Dillon.

Judge Melody McReynolds said reports on McEvoy indicated there was a medium risk of his reoffending so, in addition to the probation order, she ordered that he complete the Sex Offenders Group Work Programme.

“This is not an easy programme and it is not an easy option,” she said. “It is a challenging programme and there will be many times that you wish you had gone to prison instead.”

She also placed McEvoy on the sex offenders’ register for five years and imposed a Sexual Offender’s Prevention Order banning him from owning a computer or a mobile phone with an internet connection or a photographic capacity. He was also banned from having contact with children under the age of 16.