Man jailed for sexually exploiting child (12) online by pretending to be teenager

A man who sexually exploited a 12-year-old child online by masquerading as a 17-year-old girl has been jailed for one year.

Kevin Conway was also caught with over 400 child pornography images and 12 videos by gardaí­ when they searched his flat. The images were in the most serious category of child pornography, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.

Conway’s offending came to light when one of his flatmates noticed an image on his phone that appeared to depict a toddler engaged in a sexual act. When his home was searched by gardaí­, Conway told them: “There’s sick stuff on my phone”. He has no previous convictions.

Conway (34) of Oaktree Grove, Laurel Lodge, Carpenterstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography at his home address on July 30th, 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of sexually exploiting a child, one count of producing child pornography and one count of distributing it in June and July 2013.

The court heard that Conway set up a Skype account under the profile name ‘Irish Pooh Bear’ before befriending the girl in June 2013 and encouraging her to undress and perform sexual acts while recording her without her knowledge. He did this four or five times, the court heard.

Conway then shared a video of the girl with another person with the profile name ‘Dylan Dublin’.

When the victim, then aged 18, was contacted by gardaí some years later, she told them she thought Conway was a 17-year-old girl.

She said he suggested meeting in person, but they never did. She became suspicious that the person’s face was always hidden on camera and contact between them eventually ceased. She said she never told anyone about it.

She declined to make a victim impact statement.

When gardaí searched Conway’s home following the tip-off from his flatmate, they found him attempting to delete files from his laptop. However, he then cooperated with them and admitted to possessing the child pornography images and videos, including the ones he had made of the girl.

Investigating gardaí­ discovered 403 child pornography images and 12 videos, most of which were placed at the “most severe” category, which depicted children being subjected to sexual acts by adults.

Colman Fitzgerald SC, defending, said his client was “someone who suffers from paedophilia”. He said Conway had been looking at pornography from as far back as 2008.

In a psychological report before the court, Conway expressed “shock, shame and disgust” at some of the images he had possession of. He said there were “no words” to express his remorse for what he did to the 12-year-old victim and he was “dreadfully sorry” for what he had done.

Mr Fitzgerald said his client now feels “disgust and shame” for his actions.

The court heard Conway lost his employment last July after he told his employer about the court case. He has not found work since.

Sentencing Conway, Judge Pauline Codd noted Conway’s possession of child pornography was not a victimless crime, as the children involved were subjected to “depraved acts”. In sexually exploiting the young girl, she noted Conway deliberately used a profile name to attract children.

“He made a video for his own sexual gratification using a female name to pose as a female,” the judge said.

She accepted Conway was remorseful for his actions.

The judge handed down a three year sentence, but suspended the final two on a number of conditions.