Experts complete scrutiny of Judge Curtin’s computer

EXPERTS trawling the contents of Judge Brian Curtin’s computer have completed their task, the Oireachtas committee investigating his conduct will be told today.

The all-party committee, which is probing whether he should be impeached following child porn allegations, took possession of the computer in May after an 18-month legal wrangle that culminated in the Supreme Court deciding it could be inspected.

The computer, alleged to contain images of child pornography, has been examined by two experts who each have taken a ‘mirror image’ of all information on the computer.

Committee chairman Denis O’Donovan TD said the findings would not be discussed until a session of full hearings is held in September so that the experts can be cross-examined.

The judge was acquitted on charges of possessing child pornography in April 2004 after it emerged the warrant used by gardaí to seize the computer was out of date. The computer had been in the possession of the gardaí for four years.

The committee must complete its work before the next general election, otherwise the impeachment motion will lapse.

Judge Curtin, who acted as a circuit court judge for just six months after his appointment in November 2001, has been on full pay, currently €149,461 a year, since he ceased hearing cases following a garda raid on his home in 2002. His legal bill arising from the committee’s probe will be picked up by the taxpayer.

The committee has also served orders to examine the judge’s financial records, to establish whether or not he subscribed to the Texan website which led to the launch of Operation Amethyst in Ireland.