Porn pictures sender may escape prosecution

A LOOPHOLE in legislation may lead to a 49-year-old man escaping prosecution for sending pornographic pictures to a schoolgirl.

The child’s mother last night called for a major updating of the law, after she learned that gardaí are trawling the statue books in an effort to find appropriate legislation for the case.

At present they are looking at the 1951 Post Office Amendment Act. Section 13 of that act states it is an offence to send “grossly offensive, obscene or menacing characters” by means of a telecommunications system operated by Bord Telecom Éireann. A conviction under that act in a district court would lead to a fine of €1,000 and/or up to 12 months in prison.

However, it now appears the mobile phone used by the alleged culprit is operated by a private company, which isn’t under the control of Telecom Éireann. “This is really sad. We need our laws changed. There is nothing to protect my children. Technology is zooming away, but the law is not keeping up with it,” Nicky Stokes said.

Ms Stokes, a mother of four from Douglas in Cork, was horrified to discover last week that a complete stranger had sent pornographic lesbian pictures to her 13-year-old daughter’s phone.

Chloe Stokes’s phone was not a picture phone, but a simple WAP-enabled phone which can read pictures from the internet.

The teenager was horrified by the pictures and immediately informed her mother, who notified gardaí. Her mother said the pictures came with an audio file featuring a song by the rapper 50 Cent entitled The Pimp.

The man alleged to have sent the images is understood to be a father himself and comes from the Dublin area. He has been questioned by gardaí and is believed to have told them he had intended to send the pictures to a male friend, but had made a mistake with the number.

It is expected that a file is still being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will have to decide if there is any legislation available which will cover the incident.

“I want to protect my children. Innocence only lasts a short time. It is absolutely frightening that there appears to be no law here to protect children,” Nicky Stokes said.

Batt O’Keeffe TD said he would be taking the matter up today when he meets with Justice Minister Michael McDowell. “There appears to be serious flaws in the system. We have to give protection to children. The legislation seems much too loose,” he said.

This incident follows a nationwide search launched a few weeks ago by gardaí for the person who took pornographic pictures of a 14-year-old Dublin schoolgirl and sent them to students with camera phones.

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