Garda 'had been jailed for child sexual exploitation before'

A former Garda sergeant attempted to pay prostitutes to get children as young as five for sex a year after he had been released for a similar offence, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Kieran O’Halloran (aged 48) offered two prostitutes up to €10,000 to source the children and asked one to organise "three or four children in a hotel room" for him to have sex with. He also asked one to get him a picture of a new-born baby with their genitals on view.

O’Halloran pleaded guilty to inciting the women "to organise or knowingly facilitate the use of a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation" in October 2005 and April 2006.

Gardaí began investigating him after one of the prostitutes tipped them off because she was disgusted by the requests.

O’Halloran of Liffey Court, Clane, County Kildare and Westminister Park, Foxrock was jailed for three years in 2003 for an almost identical offence and a 20-year post-release supervision order was also imposed.

Judge Katherine Delahunt demanded to know how much interaction he had with the probation service following his original release. She adjourned sentencing until March so gardaí could interview probation officers about their supervision of O’Halloran.

Detective Sergeant Kevin Daly told prosecuting counsel, Mr Fergal Foley BL, that O’Halloran went to a brothel on Wolfe Tone Street in Dublin in October 2005. He got a prostitute and asked her to get him an eight or nine-year-old girl. He told her he wanted to "f**k" the children and offered her €1,000 for every one she could get him.

He also asked her what was the youngest girl she could get and said he’d like to get "three or four children in a hotel room". He also told her he had downloaded child pornography from the internet.

Before he left he claimed he wasn’t serious about the request but later phoned the woman a number of times repeating it. The woman was "disgusted" and saved O’Halloran’s phone number under "pervert" before giving it to gardaí.

She made a detailed statement and an identification parade was organised but she was unable to pick him out. Gardaí were forced to release him but continued monitoring his mobile phone.

In March 2006, O’Halloran visited another prostitute in a flat in Harold’s Cross after reading her advertisement in a magazine. He asked her to get him girls from eight years old but "no older than eleven" because he wanted an "innocent face".

He said that when she got the girls he wanted the prostitute to show them how to give him oral sex before leaving him alone with them.

He asked her if she had any friends with young children and said he liked to watch girls as they leave school. He also suggested he had visited other countries such a Thailand to abuse children.

He later sent her several text messages repeating his request but this time offering her €10,000 for a "five or six-year-old child." He also requested a picture of a naked new-born baby.

O’Halloran visited her again in April and this time brought a child pornography DVD with him which he showed to the prostitute and her partner. It featured an Asian girl, about 12-years-old, performing oral sex on man.

O’Halloran told them: "That's what I like, deep throat with girls like that."

He visited her a third time that month and again requested a girl under thirteen to have sex with. Since the first incident in October, gardaí had been monitoring his phone traffic and were able to track down the prostitute who made a full statement.

Gardaí arrested O’Halloran in June 2006 and searched his Co Kildare home but found nothing of relevance. Det Sgt Doyle said he was very co-operative and admitted visiting the women but said he never intended to harm any children and that it was part of a "sexual fantasy".

O’Halloran had been in the Gardaí for 22 years and held a command post for 12 months in Croatia while working for the United Nations. Det Sgt Boyle said he had been "exemplary" in his role but resigned when the initial charges came to light in 2001.

Defence counsel, Mr Lúan O’Braonáin SC, denied his client ever travelled abroad for child abuse and said gardaí could find no evidence of such travel. He said O’Halloran was a recovering alcoholic who had been abused as a child.

Referring to the 20-year post-release supervision, Mr O’Braonáin said: "Whether the regime was sufficient in its monitoring are questions I don’t have the answer to."

He noted his probation report stated he was at a "huge risk of reoffending."

Detective Inspector Paul Mulloy gave evidence that O’Halloran had some contact with the probation service following his release in 2004 but he didn’t know how much.

Judge Delahunt said: "I want to know exactly what the engagement was. He says he engaged with them, I want to know if they engaged with him."

She adjourned sentencing until March and remanded O’Halloran in custody until then.

O’Halloran was jailed for three years in February 2003 by Judge Frank O’Donnell at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for paying "a prostitute Ir£100 to find him a seven to 10-year-old girl for sex" on December 6, 2001, and to the possession of child pornography on December 8, 2001 at his then home at Five Oaks, Drogheda.

Detective Inspector John McMahon told the 2003 hearing that the former garda sergeant picked up a 21-year-old woman on Blackhall Place in Dublin on December 6, 2001, and when they went to her flat he said he was looking for a young girl.

He told her he didn’t see it as sexual abuse because he was willing to pay for the service. The prostitute took his mobile phone number and said she would meet him on a later occasion in the south of the city, but she contacted the gardaí.

Det. Insp. McMahon said that when she rang the Bridewell Station and gave them O’Halloran’s mobile number, the garda on duty thought she had been given a contact number for the girl because of a bad line.

O’Halloran answered when the phone was dialled and the call was quickly terminated. Gardaí were able to track him down because of phone records, the registration of his car, which the woman took down, and CCTV footage of him withdrawing cash at an ATM on James’ St to pay for the child.

Det. Insp. McMahon said the woman made a detailed statement of her dealings with O’Halloran and outlined that he paid her IR£100 even though her fee was only IR£80 and they did not engage in any sexual activity.

When the gardaí called to his Drogheda home he said he had been expecting them but asked that the search be delayed so his family could leave.

Gardaí seized two computers, some credit card documentation, and his mobile phone which he had thrown in his wheelie bin out the back.

Det. Insp. McMahon said pornographic material was recovered from one of the computers, showing a number of pictures of children engaged in naked poses and sexual activity.

However, a newer model had a number of images deleted but the gardaí were able to access various child pornography websites that had previously been visited by O’Halloran.

O’Halloran took full responsibility for all materials found on the computers but denied throughout that he had solicited the woman to find him a young child.

Det. Insp. McMahon agreed at the 2003 hearing that O’Halloran had been a very capable and competent member of An Garda Siochana and very well-respected. He was suspended from the force after his arrest and resigned before his guilty pleas in November 2002.

Judge O’Donnell praised the woman in bringing the matter to garda attention. He said she had "put her credibility on trial because of her circumstances" but had done the right thing in contacting the gardaí.

"The court owes this lady a debt. I appreciate that it could not have been easy for her to do it. She saw him as a potential threat to young females and did what she thought was proper. The court commends her for that."

Judge O’Donnell imposed 20 years post-release supervision from the day he was released from prison and suspended the last year of the sentence because O’Halloran himself had "suffered greatly."