Call for Garda probe into child porn ring in Galway

Date Published: 03-Jun-2010

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

More than 30 people in Galway City are actively involved in downloading and sharing tens of thousands of depraved images and videos of child pornography each month, figures provided to the Galway City Tribune have shown.

As a result, there have been calls for an extensive Garda investigation into 31 computer users in the city, a number of whom are downloading illegal material several times a day.

A breakdown of figures provided to the Galway City Tribune by RTÉ’s Prime Time Investigates shows that almost 40 individuals in the city and county were actively downloading child porn over a 30-day period between March and April.

One city user was logged downloading or sharing child pornography 50 times, another person 46 times, another 37 times and a fourth person 30 times during that period.

Galway-based Senator Fidelma Healy Eames has called for a Garda probe, but Garda Headquarters in Dublin have refused to comment on whether they will be pursuing the 1,034 individuals identified in the Prime Time investigation.

“This is despicable. It sickens me. Essentially, these people are porn dealers, and the same sanctions should be available as those for drug dealers. There has to be a Garda investigation into this immediately,” Senator Healy-Eames told the Galway City Tribune.

Almost 40 computer users in Galway, Ballinasloe, Tuam and Glenamaddy were logged actively seeking child porn over the space of a month.

Criminal profiling carried out by US and UK law enforcement experts shows that the paedophiles and potential child abusers in Ireland accessing such material are likely to be “middle class or higher” and “blend in a bit better”.

The investigation – carried out for Prime Time by a Florida-based company that works with US law enforcement agencies – tracked the computer IP addresses (a unique number assigned to individual PCs or other devices used for web access) of more than 1,000 individuals in Ireland who were involved in downloading and sharing child porn over the 30-day period between March and April.

Figures provided to the Galway City Tribune by Edel McAllister of Prime Time show there were 31 computers seen in the Galway City area – four of which showed high levels of activity.

One user was logged downloading or sharing child pornography 50 times, another person 46 times, another 37 times and a fourth person 30 times. The remaining 27 users in Galway City were seen between one and seven times.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune