Ex-principal with child porn wins suspended term

A RETIRED secondary school principal who was caught with 289 images and 12 video files of child pornography on his computer almost three years ago had a prison sentence suspended on appeal yesterday.

Judge Con Murphy allowed the appeal against the original 10-month sentence — which had the last seven months suspended — imposed on 63-year-old Anthony Caniffe at Cork District Court. Judge Murphy increased the overall sentence to one year and suspended it completely.

The appeal judge at Cork Circuit Appeals Court yesterday took extensive mitigating factors into consideration in the case against Caniffe.

Barrister Sinéad Behan said Caniffe, of Rosegarth, Donnybrook, Douglas, Cork, had been a respected member of society and the high level of publicity surrounding the case caused great distress. He and his wife moved to a remote area of Scotland but Ms Behan said: “The publicity followed them to Scotland and they left that address and sold that house.”

Ms Behan said there was no question of the appellant passing the images on to anyone else. She said of Caniffe: “He had hoped to be able to retire with some dignity but he retired through ill-health and suffered depression and loss of identity and was drinking heavily. During that time he began accessing pornography and graduated from pornography to child pornography.

“He was a highly respected member of society and the publicity resulted in utter humiliation and degradation.”

Judge Murphy noted in allowing the appeal that Caniffe pleaded guilty, co-operated with the investigation, had been a respected member of society, had some serious medical problems, took active steps to amend his behaviour, having sessions with a psychotherapist and psychiatrist, his wife was very supportive of him and he recognised the damage done to the children in the images.

The judge ordered forfeiture to the state of his home computer, on which the material was found on October 16, 2008. He said the state authorities could inspect his computers at any time in the next five years.

The images with which Caniffe was caught included pictures of six to 12-year- old children in acts of oral sex and acts of intercourse.

Det Garda Michael Hogan previously testified that the forensic evidence was that the images and video clips had been downloaded on to the defendant’s computer from child pornography sites and there was no evidence of buying them by cash or credit card transactions.

Caniffe’s name remains on the Sex Offender’s Register for five years.