Former garda pleads not guilty to possession of child pornography

A 66-year-old former garda has pleaded not guilty to possession of child pornography.

The trial of John McHugh of Árd Na Lí, Tralee, opened before a jury of five women and seven men at the Circuit Criminal Court, Tralee today.

It is alleged that Mr McHugh knowingly had in his possession child pornography that was electronically stored between August 3, 2006 and May 29, 2009, Tom Rice, prosecuting counsel for the DPP, said in his opening address to the jury.

Mr McHugh was a former member of An Garda Síochána, the counsel said.

The jury will decide what were the facts in the case and the jury will decide the verdict, he said. Every person is entitled to the presumption of innocence, Mr Rice also said.

A child was defined as a person under the age of 17. Under The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, child pornography was defined as a visual representation where the person depicted was a child engaged in a sexual act, a child witnessing a sexual act, or thirdly where the anal or genital region of a child was represented, Mr Rice said.

The prosecution will say the accused man downloaded images of young girls in contravention of the Act, Mr Rice said.

The offence was of “knowing” possession, it will be alleged. This differed from not knowing the images were on a computer, he said.

The jury will also hear evidence of how images saved by a person on a computer can be deleted and no longer appeared on a computer’s files and were no longer accessible. However, these deleted images can be recovered by a computer expert using specialist equipment, the jury will hear.

The prosecution will also allege that the accused knowingly downloaded the images "and deleted them knowingly," the counsel said.

There will be much legal argument, and they will be required to leave the courtroom when issues arose, the jury were told.

Legal argument began after the opening address. Mr McHugh is represented by senior counsel David Sutton and junior counsel John O'Sullivan.

The trial presided over by Judge Thomas E O'Donnell continues in Tralee.

It is expected to last to the end of the week.