Former Limerick teacher jailed over child sex abuse images and videos

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A FORMER teacher who taught in a school in Limerick has been jailed for possession of child abuse images and videos, including of a girl as young as three-years-old.

The judge said “very vulnerable and innocent children were being used and abused for the purpose of sexual gratification” by  the accused and others.

Sam Kavanagh, aged 30, of Kilkerric, Derrymore East, Tralee, Co Kerry and  Patrickswell, Co Limerick pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, in 2021.

Prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, outlined the case at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court this Monday with the assistance of a detective  from the Limerick Garda Divisional Protective Services Unit. 

Mr O’Sullivan said the Garda Online Exploitation Unit was contacted by an American agency that suspected child pornography was uploaded to two Dropbox folders linked to Mr Kavanagh.

“Enquiries were carried out by gardai. The accused was identified as the account holder. The accused was a secondary school music teacher working at a school in county Limerick.

“Gardai obtained a warrant and executed it at a property in Shannon Banks, Corbally in December, 2021. A laptop and hard drive were seized which revealed the presence of child pornography material,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

The court heard there were a total of 25 images and 137 videos of child abuse between the hardware and dropbox folders.

Mr O’Sullivan gave a summary of the child sexual abuse material  to the court. 

One was a video of an approximate 10-year-old girl “engaging in sexual activity with an adult male”. 

The barrister said there was an image of a female toddler, aged 3, lying on a bed with her genital and anal regions exposed. A video showed a girl, approximately aged 12, lying on a bed saying, “I want you to f*** me”.

Mr O’Sullivan said there is a video of a child, aged 12, having vaginal sex with a male, approximately 16, from behind before she proceeds to give him oral sex.

The court heard that 104 of the videos were category one which is “extreme portrayal of child sexual activity”.

Mr O’Sullivan said that after Mr Kavanagh was arrested he made full admissions to gardai and acknowledged ownership of the material.

“He grew up in county Kerry. He studied music after leaving school and completed a masters in music. He was a part-time teacher at a school in county Limerick. He is involved in a band. He taught music to children.

“His parents split up when he was young. He said he became addicted to pornography to deal with anxiety. He didn’t originally see it as child abuse material but does now. He engaged with Sex and Love Therapy (SALT), now regrets his actions and said the material is disgusting. He has no previous convictions,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

Caroline O’Connell, barrister for Mr Kavanagh, said her client made admissions, co-operated with gardai and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. She said he immediately engaged with counselling to address it. Ms O’Connell said the offences occurred between September to December 2021 and was not a sophisticated operation.

“He worked as a teacher previously. He currently works in a warehouse. He is married. It is three years since his offending and he hasn’t come to garda attention since. There is huge guilt, shame and remorse,” said Ms O’Connell, who asked Judge Colin Daly to consider imposing a suspended sentence.

The judge considered his verdict over lunch at Monday’s sitting of Limerick Criminal Circuit Court. After lunch, Judge Daly summarised the evidence and said  possession of child pornography carries with it a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.

“His culpability must be considered at a high degree. Mr Kavanagh clearly sought such images and used them for his own gratification. The harm done must be extremely high - it appears no child could be identified but that doesn't take away from the fact that very vulnerable and innocent children were being used and abused for the purpose of sexual gratification of Mr Kavanagh and others,” said Judge Daly.

The judge said a further aggravating factor was that the defendant was a music teacher of children, at the time,  where he occupied a position of trust and influence.

Judge Daly took into consideration Mr Kavanagh’s plea of guilty,  co-operation with gardai, previous good character, age and family circumstances, poor mental health he may have been experiencing at the time of these offences, the fact he has attended for therapy and not come to garda attention since.

The judge imposed a 16 month prison sentence on each charge of possession of child pornography to run concurrently. Mr Kavanagh was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.