56-year-old possessed indecent images

Kevin Robert Cassidy, of Clon Elagh, pleaded guilty to seven charges of possessing indecent photos of children between August 26, 2015 and December 23, 2017.

The defendant also admitted possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Derry Crown Court heard that the indecent images were discovered when Cassidy phoned police regarding unrelated matters.

Police attended at the 56-year-old’s address. He was intoxicated and invited the officers into his home.

On entering the living room, police noticed a laptop which had been placed on a stool in front of a sofa.

There appeared to be an indecent image of a child on the screen and there was also a warning flashing saying that the free trial was over and the user would now be required to pay.

The officers asked Cassidy what was on the screen and he replied ‘that’s child porn’.

He was arrested and the laptop, a mobile phone and a number of leads were seized during a search of the address.

The laptop was examined and two category A images, five category C images and one prohibited image were found.

During police interview, Cassidy admitted that he would have accessed pornography once or twice a month and preferred women closer to his age.

He also admitted that he accessed sites through the dark web and that he accesses images depicting male and female children between the ages of six and 13.

However, Cassidy denied being sexually aroused by this.

Passing sentence, Judge Philip Babington said there was ‘considerable delay’ in the examination of the laptop due to a backlog of cases.

He said this was “not acceptable and it is not appropriate either for the defendant or for the community as a whole. There should not be such an unjustifiable delay in bringing these type of matters before the court.”

The judge sentence Cassidy to an enhanced combination order of 18 months probation and 60 hours community service.

The 56-year-old will also be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act for five years and a sexual offences prevention order for the same period.