Businessman put face of ex's teen daughter on photos of partially naked bodies: 'I've made mistakes'

A Wicklow businessman has admitted creating child pornographic images by superimposing the face of his ex-partner’s teenage daughter onto photographs of partially naked bodies.

The 45-year-old father of two, who cannot be named in order to protect the identify of his victim, pleaded guilty to two charges relating to the possession and production of child abuse material on April 26. 2021, contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.

Detective Garda Sinead Brosnahan told a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in Bray on Friday that gardaí were alerted to the accused’s conduct by the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children after they had been notified by Adobe of someone uploading images of child pornography.

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Det Garda Brosnahan said they were able to link the defendant to the e-mail account used to upload the offending images.

She told counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL, that an examination of devices belonging to the accused which were seized in April 2021 found that two images of his ex-partner's daughter taken when she was aged 14-15 had been superimposed on photos of partially naked bodies.

The court heard that 18 images of child pornography including three “Category 1” images, which depict children engaged in explicit sexual activity, were discovered on one phone with another 20 images that had been “produced” being found on a second phone.

One image was overlaid with text that stated: “Going to rape you.” Det Garda Brosnahan confirmed that the defendant, who has two children with his former partner, has no previous convictions.

The victim, who is now aged 21, told the court that she had been completely unaware about what the man she called “Dad” – who is the father of her two half-siblings – had done before being notified by gardaí.

She described how she was showing off “the biggest smile” in a photo that was taken to capture a special moment in her schooldays. However, the woman said she now feels “physically ill” when she looks at it knowing that it was “used to create explicit images.”

She told the court that what happened had turned her life upside down and accused her mother’s former partner of taking advantage of her family’s trust.

The woman said she felt very hurt “but most of all so angry” as she had to witness her mother blame herself for what had happened. Counsel for the accused, Paul Murray SC, said his client wished to express his utter remorse for what he had done.

Mr Murray said the defendant had not been sophisticated in his offending as he had used an e-mail address which contained his own name.

The court heard that he had told gardaí during interviews that he had begun drinking heavily after the breakdown of his relationship with his partner as well as having very little work as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He admitted that he had gone “off the rails” and begun looking at child pornography at the time but could not explain why. “I’m not like that. I was a good father. I’ve made mistakes,” he told gardaí.

The man said he wanted to hurt his former partner but stressed he would never have hurt her daughter. The court heard the man had lost access to his two children as a result of the Garda investigation.

Pleading for leniency, Mr Murray noted the offending had occurred over a relatively short space of time and there was no evidence that he had distributed the offending images, most of which were of a less serious category of child pornography.

Judge Martina Baxter noted that a probation report had identified that the defendant was in need of therapeutic intervention. The judge remanded him in custody and adjourned the case to finalise sentencing on a date in January 2025.

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