A compulsive paedophile who will be a threat to children for the rest of his life is beginning a three year sentence behind bars tonight after admitting a series of sickening crimes.
Patrick Lenihan, from Erne Road in Ballyshannon pleaded guilty to possessing 80 child porn pictures on his phones and of showing some of them to a 12-year-old boy.
The 44-year-old has been in custody since last November after he breached bail conditions by writing to a 15-year-old boy to ask for a relationship.
Donegal Circuit Court heard medical reports which showed that Linehan, who is originally from London, was attracted to boys aged between ten and fifteen.
The offences occurred in October and December 2010 and Lenihan’s home has been attacked several times since.
The court heard the paedophile had worked as a first aid volunteer with the Order of Malta in Dublin before moving to Ballyshannon seven years ago.
Before the offences were detected he was a frequent visitor to the town’s neighbourhood watch meetings, Gda Martin McCarron told the court.
During the first incident Lenihan had gone up to a group of boys in Ballyshannon to show them pictures on his phone. A 12-year-old boy was then asked for sex.
These pictures were later found to be horrific images of child sexual abuse which Lenihan had downloaded from the internet.
Judge Keenan Johnson said the major problem with the case was that there was nowhere in the prison system where someone like Lenihan could undergo treatment for his paedophilia.
The only available prison is at Arbour Hill where treatment is only conducted on a voluntary basis.
He sentenced Lenihan to three years in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for life.