Gardai raid judge's home in child porn crackdown

A judge whose home was raided in a garda operation aimed at stamping out internet child pornography has been ordered to hear no more cases until the investigation is over.

The judge, who has not been named, but who is a member of the bench of the Circuit Court, had a meeting in Dublin today with President of the Court, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth.

Afterwards, a statement from the Irish Courts Service said that Mr Justice Smyth had directed that the judge involved would ‘‘not be listed for judicial assignments pending the outcome of the current investigation’’.

The judge’s home was one of more than 100 visited nationwide by a total of 500 officers from the domestic violence and sexual assault unit of the Gardai earlier this week in a move codenamed Operation Amethyst.

Those targeted also included the chief executive of a major company, a barrister, a choirmaster, a solicitor, a health authority official and a teacher.

The operation is the biggest of its kind by the Gardai and a number of computers were taken away.

Detectives have widened the investigation to see if individuals at the addresses raided are suspected of abusing, or seeking to abuse children.

The garda action was welcomed tonight by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

A spokesman said it was not credible to say that people who accessed child pornography could have done so by mistake.

It is understood that police traced offenders through credit cards used to buy images of children being abused. Officers have also monitored Internet traffic in recent months.

No arrests were made during the raids, which were mainly on private addresses, but files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions who will decide if criminal charges should be brought.

The Gardai acted on search warrants under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act during the raids at 6am on Monday.

More raids are expected in coming weeks under Operation Amethyst, which is part of an international crackdown on child porn trafficking.

The computer equipment is being examined at the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Dublin. Credit card transactions are also being investigated.

Anyone found guilty of an offence under the Act faces a possible jail sentence of between five and 14 years.

It is believed the crackdown stemmed from an investigation by the FBI.