Sourcing phone porn could pose problem

GARDAÍ could have difficulties tracking the person responsible for circulating pornographic images of a schoolgirl by camera phone, because ready-to-go phones are untraceable.

As gardaí continued to examine the photograph yesterday in a bid to identify the girl who was pictured on a couch in a sexually explicit position, there were fears the perpetrator might not be found if a bill-pay phone was not used.

Most teenagers use ready-to-go phones because telecom companies require people to be at least 18 before they will provide them with a bill-pay phone. Ready-to-go phones are also commonly used by criminal gangs because their owners cannot be traced. This led to calls last night for all phones to be registered.

Barbara Johnston, spokeswoman for the National Congress of Catholic Secondary Schools' Parent Association, called for legislation to close the loophole. "Nearly all kids have ready-to-go phones. They should be registered so they can be traced."Gardaí have called on COPINE, the organisation based at University College Cork which has played a major role in combating paedophiles using the internet, to help their investigation. They are also expected to use powerful enhancing equipment to reveal the identity of a school crest on the girl's jumper.

A garda spokesman said, until they had fully enhanced the picture, they were keeping an open mind on whether the crest belonged to a school in Cork.

Their investigation started last Friday when worried representatives from a school in Glanmire alerted them to the possibility that the girl may be a pupil there. If it is proved to be true, gardaí are expected to start questioning all the second level school's students within days. Both second level schools in Glanmire have refused to comment.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell yesterday instructed his officials to raise the issue of the use of mobile phones to circulate pornography with the Internet Advisory Board. It is expected the board will draw up a list of guidelines.

The minister said he was reluctant to comment on that specific allegation but said that the broader issue of mobile phones being used to spread pornography represented a "serious issue".

The minister confirmed he had asked officials in his department to raise the issue at the next Internet Advisory Board meeting next week.

The board is a non-statutory body charged with ensuring self-regulating measures are effective in the Irish internet industry. Set up as a result of a 1998 Government report into illegal and harmful use of the internet in Ireland, it has helped draw up codes of practice.