Education Board member walks free despite being caught with child abuse material

Irish Daily Mirror

4 hours ago

A manager with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board has been given a one-month suspended prison sentence for the possession of child abuse material.
Bernard Morley (49) a married father of two of Coolnakilly, Glenealy, Co Wicklow pleaded guilty at sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court to possession of one video and three images of material contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 on dates between January 22, 2022 and April 23, 2022.
Judge Terence O'Sullivan said the scale of the offending was 'as low as you can get' for such an offence and was 'radically different' from many other cases of possession of child pornography which come before the courts.
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Detective Sergeant David Smith told the court that gardaí became aware that the offending material was available on an account with Kik – a mobile messaging application.
Det Garda Smith said the accused handed over his mobile phone and answered questions about the suspect account when gardaí called to his home on September 8, 2022.
The court heard one video depicting a 13-year-old girl having sex with an adult male and three nude images of children were contained in a Kik account to which Morley had access as a group member.
However, Det Garda Smith told counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL, that there was no illegal material on any device in Morley's possession and there was no evidence that he had ever distributed such content.
Cross-examined by defence counsel, Ronan Kennedy SC, Det Garda Smith said the defendant had admitted he was having 'a rough time' at the time of the offence and was 'looking at some stuff' on Kik. He confirmed that the last time Morley had accessed Kik was in April 2022.
Mr Kennedy said it was a 'fairly unique' case of its type as the offending material was not stored on an actual physical device but in a Kik account.
The barrister said his client had been diagnosed with a number of health problems and had been suspended from his job with Kildare and Wicklow ETB as a result of publicity about the case. Mr Kennedy said Morley had previously been regarded as a model citizen who had no previous convictions.
He said it was an unfortunate case of a man who was doing very well who began drinking at home during the Covid-19 pandemic at a time which coincided with the death of his father and brother. Mr Kennedy said the accused also started playing interactive games online during the pandemic which led him to using Kik.
The court heard he joined a group which shared pornographic images, which were not illegal, but which led to him finding himself in possession of the offending material. Mr Kennedy said Morley was deeply remorseful and ashamed about his offending and had suffered a significant fall from grace which had impacted on his career.
However, he said the education official enjoyed the support of his family and members of his local community which was evidenced by a number of character references submitted to the court.
Sentencing Morley to one month in prison, Judge O'Sullivan said it was unfortunate for the accused that someone had put material into the Kik group of which he was a member which was illegal.
The judge noted that the accused could have argued that he was not in possession of the material, although he did believe such a defence was unlikely to have been successful.
He acknowledged that Morley came into possession of the video and images at a difficult personal time and was paying a price for his actions. Suspending the sentence in full, Judge O'Sullivan said it was 'quite plainly just a mistake' by the accused and he believed it was unlikely he would come to the attention of gardaí again.