Man jailed over child abuse stash found at Kerrykeel house

A man caught with a large stash of child abuse material at the house he was living in Donegal has been jailed.

Donard McLarnon was imprisoned for one year at Letterkenny Circuit Court this week.

Gardaí raided the home of Donard McLarnon’s home at Cuan na Tira, Kerrykeel on July 18, 2019.

The swoop, organised as part of Operation Ketch, set up to identify suspects downloading child pornography, was organised after McLarnon’s IP address showed up to officers.

Gardaí recovered an iPhone 6 from the back of a sofa in the house.

Detective Garda Eugene Organ told Letterkenny Circuit Court that he found two movies and 86 photos on the phone.

The movies and a number of the pictures were classed as Category 4 of Child Pornography which are deemed among the most serious of such offences against children.

Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said 81 of the images were of children under the age of 17 depicting for a sexual purpose with their genitals or anal areas exposed.

Five of the images and two videos showed children under the age of 17 engaged in real or simulated sexual activity.

The latter, Judge Aylmer said, were particularly serious as they showed adults performing penetrative sex on children of a young age.

The maximum sentence available was one of five years imprisonment. Judge Aylmer said his starting point for sentencing was one of two and a half years before taking mitigation into account.

McLarnon tendered an early plea, co-operated with the investigation and made full admissions. McLarnon has no previous conviction and a probation report said the accused had demonstrated the appropriate remorse and ‘deep shame’. The Probation Service said McLarnon was at a low-risk of reoffending.

Judge Aylmer reduced the sentence to one of 20 months, with credit to be given for the time McLarnon has spent in custody since May 30, 2022. The final eight months of the sentence were suspended upon McLarnon entering a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of 12 months after his release.

Originally from Belfast, McLarnon became ostracised from his family after these issues came to light.

McLarnon was working in Donegal and residing in Kerrykeel at the time. His barrister, Ms Fiona Crawford BL, told the court that McLarnon was ‘chased from the community’.

He was remanded in custody after being unable to provide an address.

Ms Crawford said: “He lost the support of his family, his friends and his home; he had nowhere to live. He resided for a period of time in his car.”

The 53-year-old McLarnon has been in custody since May after his bail was revoked. Gardai found him living in his car in Galway and arrested him on foot of a bench warrant. McLarnon has a property in Kilkenny, but has not been able to live there since these matters entered the public domain.

Ms Crawford told the court that McLarnon’s marriage of 20 years broke down and the accused had issues with drugs and alcohol. She said the case of the accused was ‘a curiosity that became an addiction’.

“He tried at times to stop and wouldn’t access child pornography, but out of compulsion he started again,” Ms Crawford said.

“He was immersed in a fantasy world of meeting consenting adults for sexual needs.”