No jail for ex-soldier who possessed 'depraved' images and videos of baby and children
Cormac Brown is to be assessed for suitability for community service following his conviction for having 'depraved' images and videos of children and other related offences. Picture: Brendan Gleeson
A former Irish soldier, who possessed “depraved” sexual images and videos of children, has been given suspended jail sentences and is to be assessed for suitability to work in the community as punishment and efforts at his rehabilitation.
Cormac Browne, aged 23, of Camas, Newcastle West, Co Limerick, admitted possessing sexually explicit images of children, including a photo of an adult performing a sex act on a baby. Browne, who was almost 21 at the time, also admitted recording sexually explicit live video chats with pre-teen girls via the Monkey and Monkey Run chat apps.
Browne was caught in possession of the child sex material by gardaí attached to the Limerick Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU), Henry Street, Limerick, when they raided his home on April 9, 2023. Judge Simon McAleese commended the DPSU’s “super work” in apprehending Browne and unearthing his “deplorable” and “disgraceful” actions.
Detective Garda Orlaith Ryan told Browne’s sentencing hearing, held at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, that gardaí received a tip-off from the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children in the US about a Snapchat account, linked to Browne, from which a sexually explicit image of a child had been uploaded.
Lily Buckley, prosecuting, told the court that Snapchat had determined the image to be illegal content and it had shut the account down. Gardaí searched Browne’s home on April 9, 2023, and seized his electronic devices.
A Garda forensic analysis of a mobile phone belonging to Browne unearthed four images and two videos of a sexually explicit nature involving children.
The images included two girls, aged three and six, naked on a bed with a woman; a 14-year-old girl in her underwear with her breasts exposed; a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy engaged in a sex act; and a woman performing a sex act on a baby.
One video involved Browne engaging with a 14-year-old girl in a sexually explicit chat in which the girl twerked her bum at Browne and inserted two toothbrushes in her anus.
A second video showed Browne engaging with two 14-year-old girls in which he urged the girls to remove their clothes. In the five minute 27 second video, Browne exposes his erect penis to the girls and the girls expose their breasts to Browne.
When interviewed by gardaí, Browne made admissions in respect of the Snapchat account that had drawn the attention of the US authorities. Browne initially told gardaí that he was “naive” and “wouldn’t be streetwise” and he denied he had a sexual attraction to children.
Browne claimed he was sent an unsolicited sexually explicit video, which he said had shocked him. He told gardaí he saved the image and later forwarded it to another person.
Judge McAleese said that, when gardaí later confronted Browne with the images and videos found on his phone, “his lies were revealed”. “He (Browne) knew the game was up,” said the judge.
Browne, who was represented in court by barrister Joe McMahon, admitted masturbating to the sexually explicit material, and he told gardaí: “I didn’t have the willpower to tell myself ‘No’.”
Browne eventually told gardaí: “I am disgusted with myself…what I did was shocking and terrible… I don’t know how old they (the children) are but they are not old enough.”
Mr McMahon suggested to the court that Browne be given credit for pleading guilty, being open with gardaí about his masturbating habit, and for providing gardaí with passwords and PIN codes to his electronic devices.
“He knew what he was doing was wrong but did not have the willpower to stop. He served in the army, completing a tour of duty in Lebanon and he voluntarily discharged himself,” said Mr McMahon.
Judge McAleese said the State accepted Browne’s offending could have arisen out of his claim that he had suffered loneliness during the covid-19 pandemic, and that he had become addicted to masturbating to adult pornography before being “sucked into a darker place”.
However, the judge said, in his opinion, Browne “knew well his activities were depraved” and that Browne had “preyed” on the “vulnerabilities” of the children.
“He (Browne) was a serving member of Óglaigh na hÉireann, his duty was to protect and defend, however his misconduct in this matter is additionally disgraceful by virtue of his betrayal of his duty,” said the judge.
“He resigned his membership of the Irish Army as he realised that it was no longer tenable. The loss of his employment was entirely self-inflicted and can be of no relevance in mitigation.”
Judge McAleese described as “trite”, and “rejected”, a suggestion by Browne that he was suffering from a “sexual frustration” at the time. The judge remarked that, despite the victims being unknown to Browne, “if there wasn’t a market” for paedophilia, then “children wouldn’t be used for this purpose”.
The judge reiterated that the material found in Browne’s possession “involved young children being sexually exploited… one picture is of a child that is little more than a baby”.
Browne was supported in court by his parents, and his mother wrote a character reference letter to the judge seeking leniency on behalf of her son.
Judge McAleese said he appreciated the sentiment from Browne’s mother, but he said in his opinion it would be “impossible” for “a mother’s love” to be “impartial”, and therefore the judge said he could not regard the letter as a character reference for Browne.
Addressing Browne’s mother, the judge said: “Do not fool yourself as to what your son got up to, it would be very wrong to do so, and it would be a great disservice to all the children who end up being predated upon by persons who abuse them for such despicable and depraved offences.
“Be very conscious that, without a customer base, this (crime) wouldn’t be in existence. Don’t cod yourself about that,” added the judge.
Judge McAleese said he appreciated that some people will ask why he was not immediately sending Browne to jail. However, the judge argued that it was an “exceptional case”, and that, “the prosecution did not exhort me to impose an immediate custodial sentence”.
Judge McAleese said he had to balance the “depravity” of Browne’s offending with mitigating circumstances including Browne’s “genuine” expression of remorse, guilty plea, absence of prior convictions, his immaturity and personal issues at the time.
Browne had faced a maximum sentence of up to 14 years in jail, however judge McAleese told Browne: “I do not see any advantage to the public to having you incarcerated.” The judge told Browne he had already “damaged” himself and his family by his own actions, and that he would likely suffer “public humiliation and shame”.
The judge said he also noted that Garda Ryan, DPSU, had been “exceptionally kind” in her evidence that she accepted that Browne had been going through a difficult time in his life and was in a dark place. “I want to congratulate the gardaí for their super work, it is harrowing work, it is a credit to them, it is the State at its best,” said the judge.
Browne pleaded guilty to seven charges including, possessing “child pornography”; producing “child pornography”, inviting a child to participate in a “pornographic performance”; attending a “pornographic performance” involving a child; and using communications technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child.
The judge imposed concurrent headline sentences of three years on four of the charges, including for possession, production, attending, and using communications technology, in respect of child pornography. He reduced the terms to 18 months and suspended them in full for three years on conditions.
Browne agreed to not have unsupervised contact with children; complete a sex offenders treatment programme; be supervised by the probation service; attend psychological counselling; and notify the authorities of any change in his address or his contact details.
The judge took into consideration two of the remaining three offences, namely inviting a child to participate in a pornographic performance and using communications technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child.
The judge ordered Browne be assessed for 240 hours of community service in lieu of a 18-month prison sentence in respect of a charge of producing child pornography in a sexually explicit live video chat with two underage girls.
Browne agreed to abide by the order provided he is deemed suitable for community service by the probation service, which, the court heard, had deemed Browne to be of “moderate risk” of reoffending.
Details of a suitability report in respect of the community service order will be heard in court next month.
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
