An IT worker who told Gardaí he was a naturist after being found in possession of almost 80,000 images of child pornography was today jailed for 18 months.
Cynan Rees, 55, with an address at The Residence, Old Belmont, Rochestown, Cork pleaded guilty to three charges of knowingly having in his possession child abuse images at his home on May 1, 2014.
Gardaí searched his home following a tip off from German police via Interpol.
Rees initially denied any knowledge of possessing child porn and said he was into naturism but later admitted the charge when Gardaí examined the files.
Reprehensible
At Cork Circuit Court, Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin described the images containing young children engaged in sex acts with each other and adults as “reprehensible.”
An analysis of external hard drives and USBs seized by Gardaí from the defendant's home revealed 78,800 child pornographic images and videos.
Of those, 2,280 images and 483 videos were listed as category one – the most serious form of child pornography depicting young children engaged in sex acts with adults.
Rees was sentenced to three years, with 18 months suspended.
Cork Circuit Court, where Cynan Rees was sentenced earlier todayJudge Seán Ó Donnabháin had earlier asked Imelda Kelly, prosecuting, why there had been such a delay from May 2014 in getting the case to court. Ms Kelly said that the number of images was an issue but not the only factor in the delay.
Ray Boland, defending, said Rees was anxious to get counselling. In response to this, the judge asked why the defendant had not gone to counselling or therapy since 2014. Mr Boland said Rees was now attending to the matter.
“I cannot ignore the seriousness of the possession in this case,” said Judge Ó Donnabháin.
“These are Category 1 images, the most reprehensible type of images while he also had another 78,000 criminal images of the Category 2 type where children were photographed exposing their genitalia.
“His (Rees) approach to rehabilitation is somewhat belated but notwithstanding that, he will get a sentence which provides him with an incentive to engage in rehabilitation upon his release.”
