A young web developer from Letterkenny who was caught with over 100 items depicting child abuse material has avoided being locked up.
A lost hard drive led Gardai to the detection of the sick images, video files and URLs, some of which showed children as young as five years old.
Oliver Ferris was handed an 18-month suspended sentence when he appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court in connection with the cache.
Staff at the then Letterkenny Institute of Technology found the hard drive and, seeking to reunite the property with its owner, plugged the device into a computer, revealing images of children being sexually abused.
Ferris was tracked down due to college work that was also stored on the hard drive.
Gardai were immediately alerted and, on April 15, 2019, officers raided Ferris’s home at Foxhills, Carnamuggagh. An iPhone, an Apple Mac and an iPad were seized and sent to the National Computer Crime Unit for analysis.
A total of nine video files, 84 images and 43 urls all depicting images of children – some of whom were as young as five – being abused sexually were found.
When interviewed, Ferris made admissions of accessing and downloading the material. He was charged under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.
Ferris, who is now 26, completed a degree and a masters in computing and has operated a web development business.
Detective Carter said that analysis showed that Ferris accessed the material on 59 occasions during a certain period of time.
Ferris told Gardai that he felt ‘stupid’ for downloading the material. He said he first downloaded such images when he was 15 and told investigating officers that he felt he was not ‘addicted’.
Ferris has lost his business as a result of the offence and the court previously heard how his mother had to move home as a result.
Last summer, Judge John Aylmer said he would ‘hold my hand’ on sentencing to allow Ferris a further year of counselling and to monitor his progress.
Ms Fiona Crawford BL, barrister for Ferris, said her client has undergone 254 hours of treatment and has been under the ‘close eye’ of Gardai. He has not come to adverse attention since, Ms Crawford said.
A forensic psychologist report and updated report from the Probation Service were handed into the Court. Ferris is the subject of another six months of supervision. Ms Crawford said Ferris is very willing and able and he has shown that he has committed to his treatment.
Judge John Aylmer imposed a sentence of 18 months in prison. The entire sentence was suspended for 18 months on Ferris entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 18 months.
He is to remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a further six months and was ordered to comply with all directions.