Child pornography suspects due to appear in court soon
Gardaí indicated yesterday that the DPP had already given the go-ahead for gardaí to prosecute some of the 100 people who are under investigation for allegedly possessing pornographic child images on their computers. The computer equipment was seized last May during Operation Amethyst.
“A number of files have gone to the DPP and in some cases he has already given a direction. People continue to be interviewed and some files are still being prepared for the DPP,” a senior Garda spokesman said.
He said a number of people would be summoned to appear before District Courts but more serious charges would be dealt with by Circuit Criminal Courts.
Those who are found to have downloaded images and distributed them to others can face up to 14 years in jail under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. The majority of people questioned are from wealthy professional backgrounds. Most are married, middle-aged men who have children of their own.
Those under investigation include a judge, a barrister, two solicitors, a librarian, a health board official and a choir master.
The seizures of computer equipment followed a tip-off from US Federal Police, who broke up an internet site in America. They found that a number of Irish people had used their credit cards to pay for the downloading of child porn.
