Bray father whose viewing of porn 'escalated' to child sex abuse images avoids jail
Seán McCárthaigh
A father of two from Wicklow whose viewing of pornography “escalated” to child sex abuse images during the Covid-19 pandemic has avoided a jail sentence.
Michael Hollingsworth (37) of Killarney Road, Bray, Co Wicklow pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of child sexual abuse images at his home on January 26th, 2021, contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.
Det Garda Darragh McEvoy told a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court on Friday that gardaí had been notified about a Kik messaging account by an international body that refers suspicions about child abuse material to police authorities.
The court heard that a mobile phone and three hard drives were subsequently seized during a search of the accused’s home.
Det Garda McEvoy told prosecution counsel, James Kelly, that nothing of evidential value was found on the hard drives, but two videos of the most explicit category of child sex abuse material were discovered on a Samsung phone and one image of a less explicit category.
The court heard that Hollingsworth, who had no previous convictions, co-operated with gardaí after he was arrested on April 3rd, 2023.
Defence counsel, Colman FitzGerald, told the court that his client wished to express sincere remorse for his actions.
FitzGerald said Hollingsworth’s accessing of pornography had “escalated” to “further material” during the pandemic.
He stressed that there was no evidence that Hollingsworth had distributed any of the illegal material and had only been charged with possession of child sexual abuse images.
Although FitzGerald acknowledged that any such image was “one too many,” he said it was also not the biggest case of its kind to come before the courts.
The barrister said Hollingsworth was also the subject of a good probation report, which had assessed his risk of re-offending as “below average.”
He noted that the accused’s partner and family were aware of the offence, while Hollingsworth also had a good employment history.
FitzGerald said Hollingsworth had demonstrated insight and a strong motivation for change and was suitable to be considered for placement under the supervision of the Probation Service.
Sentencing the accused to 18 months in prison, Judge Patrick Quinn noted it was his first offence and suspended the sentence in full for a period of 18 months.
As conditions for a fully suspended sentence, Judge Quinn directed Hollingsworth to keep the peace and place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service and to comply with all directions, referrals and future risk assessments.
