‘Highest level of vileness’: local man paid for child pornography

A man found to have 98 images and 55 videos of explicit child pornography, featuring children aged from nine months to 13 years, has been remanded in custody to November pending sentence for what a judge has deemed a case of “the highest level of vileness”.

Judge Keenan Johnson, upon hearing that Josh Fitzpatrick (25), with an address at Forgney, Moyvore, Co Westmeath, had paid for some of the content discovered on his phone, considered it a “hugely aggravating factor” that the accused had “contributed to this disgusting, vile industry”.

Detective Garda John Divilly told prosecuting barrister Cathal Ó’Braonáin that he arrested Mr Fitzpatrick on February 10, 2023, on suspicion of drug offences.

The accused was a passenger in the car of another suspect, and was not ultimately charged with the drug offences.

Following his arrest, Mr Fitzpatrick’s phone was seized and examined and Gardaí came across a total of 53 pictures and 18 videos of child pornography. A memory card within the phone contained a further 45 images and 37 videos of similar content.

The court heard the graphic material showed children aged approximately from two to 13 years, engaged in sexual acts, and being abused by adults.

The age range of children in the pictures on the memory cards was "nine months to 13 years" and involved sexual acts, the court heard.

When asked by Judge Johnson if the accused had paid for the content, Det Gda Divilly said that most of the content was from Snapchat, but some of the clips had advertisements for “full videos” with payment.

“He acknowledged in a psychiatric report that he paid for them. That’s contributing to this disgusting, vile industry,” said Judge Johnson.

Shane Geraghty BL, for the defence, outlined to the court that his client had provided Gardaí with the pin number for the phone which gave them access. Det Gda Divilly accepted that it can be difficult to access a phone when it’s locked.

He said Mr Fitzpatrick had pleaded guilty and that there was no evidence of him distributing the content.

The accused had suffered paternal violence as a young man and developed an eating disorder, Mr Geraghty explained. He had started using marijuana at the age of 14 but despite his difficulties, he managed to get into gainful employment and is also in a stable relationship.

While he admitted that possession of even one such video was abhorrent, Mr Geraghty stressed that there are many cases that come before the court with significantly higher volumes of images and videos - often hundreds or thousands.

“These are at the highest level of vileness and disgust,” Judge Johnson replied. “This is one of the few cases where somebody has paid for it.”

He requested further information as to what kind of money was paid for the content and was informed that the accused had tendered a total of €50, but had purchased the content on no more than two occasions.

“I’ll be quite honest: anyone who pays for child pornography will go to prison. That message has to go out,” said Judge Johnson.

He proceeded to remand Mr Fitzpatrick in custody to November 25, when he will be sentenced. He directed that all required medical treatment be given while he’s in custody.