A DOWNPATRICK man “disgusted” at himself for distributing and possessing indecent images of children being sexually abused has been jailed for two and a half years and put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
Judge Patricia Smyth told 49 year-old Gary McLaughlin that while he may have “suffered significantly” at his offending being made public, “this reflects the revulsion that right thinking members of the public feel” at such activities.
The Downpatrick Crown Court judge, sitting in Belfast on Monday, said these were not “victimless crimes” as children had to be abused so that like mind people like him could view it for their sexual gratification.
She said “real children have been destroyed for life by the terrible abuse they have suffered”.
Judge Smyth said that while McLaughlin may have been disgusted by his behaviour, and claimed not to have any sexual interest in children, there was “simply no question, that you have a sexual interest in children”.
McLaughlin, from Corbally Road, was also told the serious aggravating factor of his offending was the “the distribution of these horrendous images”, although for a relatively short four-month period dating back to 2012.
In all, he pleaded guilty to a total of 28 charges, including possessing over 1,400 indecent images and videos of boys aged from five to 15, some of which were distributed to others.
He will serve 15 months in custody, followed by 15 months of supervised licenced parole.
Last week prosecution lawyer Laura Ievers said McLaughlin’s home was searched in April 2017 and the images, over half of which were in the most serious Category A and B, were found on two laptops, an iphone and a USB device.
Mrs Ievers said that until January this year McLaughlin denied any knowledge of the images, and while he ultimately accepted responsibility for them, he maintained he had no sexual interest in children, nor had he gone looking for images of children being abused.
Defence barrister JonPaul Shields said McLaughlin’s guilty plea was a “public acknowledgment” of what he had done and that he had not viewed any of the images since 2015.
“He effectively stopped looking at material or accessing material,” the barrister remarked. “He felt disgusted at himself and disgusted at the activity he was engaging in.
“He took the decision that he could no longer continue what he was doing. He realised that what he was doing was wrong and that he needed to stop,” added Mr Shields.
A spokesperson for NSPCC Northern Ireland said afterwards: “This sickening haul of indecent images will contain countless victims of child sexual abuse, and by downloading and distributing them McLaughlin has fuelled an industry that thrives on pain and suffering.
“The children in this material are victims of appalling crimes. It is vital that offenders like McLaughlin are brought to justice, but the NSPCC is campaigning for more to be done to prevent anyone sourcing and sharing this vile material, and for web providers to do more to remove it from their platforms.”