Man who filmed himself sexually abusing baby boy to be sentenced this morning

File photo

A MAN WHO filmed himself carrying out sex acts on an infant boy, and who then shared the depraved video footage with others online, is to be sentenced before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court this morning.

The man, who currently cannot be identified after reporting restrictions were imposed by the court, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing the baby. He also admitted possessing, producing, and distributing the videos and images, which he recorded on a mobile phone in December 2020.

The man, who has 133 previous convictions including for road traffic offences, burglary, threats to kill, criminal damage, possessing stolen property and violent disorder, also pled guilty to a charge of using communication technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of the infant boy.

Under the guise of username  “Honda22Civic”, the man uploaded and distributed 17 digital files, (15 videos and two images), on the “kik” messaging and chat platform after he set up an account using his email address.

The material showed the defendant sexually abusing the boy, as well as images and videos of naked underage girls, and a girl being sexually assaulted by an unidentified male which were sent to the defendant by unknown parties.

Gardaí classified the footage of the defendant sexually abusing the boy as “Category 1”, the highest on the scale in respect of child sexual offences.

The man admitted all of the offences but when initially interviewed by gardai, following his arrest in January 2021, he denied having a sexual interest in children and he blamed his actions on his use of cocaine.

However, at the man’s pre-sentencing hearing yesterday, his defence barrister said his instructions were that the man “is not blaming cocaine, and he must accept what he did”.

“No one is to blame but himself and he is deeply ashamed of his behaviour”.

The man, who it was heard suffered an acquired brain injury following a road traffic collision in 2008, has refused to tell gardai the source of the illegal images and videos of young girls which he shared online.

The man was arrested by Gardai in early January 2021, whilst he was serving an 18-month prison sentence for a separate conviction for violent disorder.

The man had used his email address to set up a social media account on the messaging and chat platform kik, from where he shared the child sex videos and images.

The defendant’s face was not in the video or pictures but he was eventually identified because of “distinctive” tattoos on his body which were visible in the footage.

The boy’s mother told the pre-sentencing hearing, which was held in-camera yesterday, that she wanted reporting restrictions lifted in the case so that the man could be identified.

Reading a victim impact statement on behalf of her son, the woman told the court: “I never thought that something like this would come to my family, I never thought my son would be violated in such a way, it was such a shock to me, my family and friends.”

The woman said it had destroyed her mental health, she had “self harmed” and has attempted suicide, “all because of what happened my son”.

The woman said she could not forgive the defendant for what he had done to her son.

“It has had a big impact on my life and I think about it every day. I would be more cautious about who I leave my son around because I can’t trust anybody after this,” she said.

After liaising with prosecuting counsel, John O’Sullivan, BL, Judge Tom O’Donnell made an order excluding members of the public from the pre-sentencing hearing, having heard the evidence would be “gross” in the extreme, but he said the victim’s mother, gardai and bona fide members of the press were entitled to be present.

The offences came to light when the Garda Online Child Exploitation unit (ONCE) received a tip-off from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (MCMEC), after the defendant uploaded the images and videos on kik.

Detective Garda John O’Neill, attached to the Limerick Garda divisional protective services unit (DPSU), which specialises in investigations into crimes of a sexual nature, said the material was traced back to the defendant’s address.

When gardai obtained a warrant to search the man’s home they discovered he had already deleted the videos and images from his mobile phone, but the videos and images were forwarded to gardai by the US authorities and kik.

The man sent a handwritten letter from prison to the victim’s mother apologising for what he had done to her son.

While the defendant has no prior sexual offences convictions, his criminal record was “not one that (he) can be proud”, his barrister acknowledged.

The barrister said the man can expect a custodial sentence, but he argued he is also “entitled” to a partially suspended sentence as he has declined to take up bail since May 2013.

“He acknowledges he must be punished,” the man’s barrister said.

State prosecutor John O’Sullivan described as “gross” the “sex acts” carried out on the “infant boy”.

These included the defendant thrusting his “erect penis” into the baby boy’s face and filming himself masturbating using the boy’s hand.

Judge O’Donnell said it was a “very disturbing case” and that he would decide on whether or not to lift reporting restrictions when passing sentence this morning.