A TRADE ANALYST with an investment bank has been jailed for 18 months for the possession and distribution of child abuse images and videos.

Jamie Fitzgerald (35) of Avoca Drive, Bray, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court to one count of possession of child pornography on 2 August, 2022 and six counts of knowingly distributing such material, contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.

The court heard the distribution offences occurred on dates between 23 March, 2022 and 4 April, 2022 inclusive when Fitzgerald shared a total of 25 files containing child abuse content with others via the Kik social media platform.

Detective Garda David Smith gave evidence that gardaí were alerted in July 2022 that a Kik account was involved in the possession of child pornography.

The court heard an original search warrant later that month could not be executed as Fitzgerald was out of the country on holiday.

However, the accused subsequently handed over a Dell laptop computer and Samsung Galaxy mobile phone to gardaí and directed them to where offending content was located.

Det Garda Smith said an analysis of the equipment showed Fitzgerald has used a computer programme called Bluestacks to access “pretty sinister sites.”

He told prosecution counsel, James Kelly BL, that a total of 222 images and 77 videos of child pornography were discovered on the laptop.

They included 15 images and nine videos of the most serious form of child abuse material which depicted children engaged in sexual acts, with the longest video lasting one minute and 26 seconds.

Det Garda Smith said a further 54 images, including 16 of the most serious category, were found on Fitzgerald’s phone.

He gave evidence that gardaí were able to establish a connection between the Kik account with the offending material and the accused’s laptop and phone.

The witness said the Kik account contained 107 images and 52 videos.

Asked about the distribution of child abuse material, Det Garda Smith said 25 unique files had been shared with others via Kik.

He said all such content was classified as Category 2 which he explained related to images of naked children with their genitalia exposed.

The court heard that Fitzgerald was arrested in July 2023 but made no admissions during two interviews with gardaí.

Det Garda Smith said gardaí also had to interview the accused’s parents and siblings as well as his fiancée and her parents after Fitzgerald had suggested that he was not the only person to have access to the devices containing the child pornography.

He told the court that gardaí were satisfied that they had nothing to do with the images, although Fitzgerald did not accept responsibility for the possession and distribution of the material.

The court heard that Fitzgerald, who has no previous convictions, is an IT professional who got married last year.

Defence counsel, Barry White SC, said the accused had worked in a supermarket for many years after leaving school before obtaining a business degree as a mature student and now worked as a trade analyst with an investment bank.

Mr White said there was very little he could say about the offending but noted that Fitzgerald had a good work record and ethic.

While there was a considerable quantity of material found on his devices, Mr White said they were “not all in the worst category.”

The barrister also stressed that the number of images that were distributed was “not great in quantity” compared to other cases where “hundreds and thousands” of images were involved.

He claimed Fitzgerald was “a naïve man in lots of way” who was not prepared for the consequences of his actions but who had already endeavoured to mend his ways by self-referring himself for psychotherapy.

Judge Patrick Quinn said child pornography was morally reprehensible and illegal and must be marked with “significant censure” as children were vulnerable and needed to be protected by the courts.

The judge said any sentence must be used as a deterrent to both the individual and the general public.

He observed that he did not wish to minimise the possession of child pornography but viewed the distribution of such material as a more serious offence.

The judge said aggravating factors in the case were the accused’s failure to take responsibility for his actions from the outset which had caused his and his fiancée’s family members embarrassment and distress as well as wasting valuable Garda resources.

However, he acknowledged that Fitzgerald had entered an early guilty plea and had tried to better himself in life through further education as well as having a good work history.

The judge noted that he had no report available from the psychotherapist who had been treating the defendant since late 2022 and that a probation report had assessed him as being at a medium risk of reoffending.

Sentencing Fitzgerald to three years in prison for each of the distribution charges to run concurrently, Judge Quinn suspended the final 18 months on each count on a number of strict conditions.

They include that he completes the Safer Lives treatment programme and comply with any direction of the Probation Service on release as well as notify the authorities of any change in his contact details.

Fitzgerald was also sentenced to 18 months to run concurrently on the possession charge.