Pervert who said he was ‘sorry' after sending boy 2,500 sexual messages finally jailed
James Varian was convicted of sending 2,500 messages to a 15-year-old boy over a nine-day period and also of possession of 9,000 images of child abuse
A pervert who told the Sunday World he was 'sorry' for his crimes, after he was given a suspended sentence for bombarding a teenage boy with 2,500 sexual messages, has been jailed for three years after the DPP appealed on the grounds of leniency.
James Varian broke down crying and sobbed 'I'm so sorry' when confronted by the Sunday World after we asked why he felt it appropriate to send the deluge of sexual messages to a 15-year-old boy.
Varian, now 31, was also discovered to have over 9,000 files containing graphic imagery of child abuse on his computer when gardai later searched his home.
Approached by the Sunday World, Varian told us he could not explain his actions other than to say he himself had been the victim of abuse in his past.
'I'm so sorry … I'm so sorry,' he said when asked if he would take the opportunity to apologise to his victim.
'I have an awful lot of work to do now to redeem myself. I've a lot of counselling to do.'
Asked why he had harassed the underage boy and downloaded such horrific imagery, Varian said: 'I had similar issues in my own childhood.'
James Varian was convicted of sending 2,500 messages to a 15-year-old boy over a nine-day period and also of possession of 9,000 images of child abuse
News in 90 Seconds - Aug 9th
Asked if he was saying he was a victim of abuse, he responded: 'I was, yeah, unfortunately.'
Details of Varian's harassment of the child were first made to known to gardai when the boy he targeted and his father went to their local garda station to complain.
During follow-up inquiries, officers carried out a search of Varian's property and seized hardware including phones and computers.
An analysis of the devices subsequently uncovered the presence of 9,000 files containing imagery of child abuse.
The files included 7,781 images and 1,970 videos.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that more than 1,000 of the images and 300 videos fell into the most serious category of abuse imagery depicting children either witnessing or engaging in sexual acts.
The majority of these, the court was told, were computer generated.
Det Sgt Brendan Corry told the court that gardai had begun their investigations after they were contacted in January 2022 by the teenage boy's father.
He had discovered sexually explicit communications sent via the Telegram app to his son over Christmas in 2021 and early 2022.
Varian, who had become aware that a complaint had been made against him, contacted gardai independently and informed them he believed they might be looking to speak with him.
The court was also informed that around this time Varian contacted his victim and urged him to 'purge texts' and 'delete everything' in reference to their communications.
Judge Dermot Sheehan was informed that Varian had entered pleas of guilty to possession of child pornography at the house where he lived at Ringmahon Road, Cork, on January 6, 2022, and a charge of using information and communication technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child.
Appearing on behalf of Varian, Jane Hyland SC noted her client was dealing with high levels of anxiety and had 'autistic traits'.
She said he was not 'minimizing' what he had done and was deeply sorry for his actions.
Suspending a four-year sentence, Judge Dermot Sheehan noted that Varian had contacted gardai of his volition, had no previous convictions and had expressed remorse.
However, the case came back before the Court of Appeal last week after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence on the grounds that it was too lenient.
Returning judgement, Mr Justice John Edwards said that the sentencing judge's reasons for fully suspending the sentences were 'relatively sparse', giving only Varian's age and the fact that he was a first-time offender.
The Court of Appeal sentenced Varian to four years in custody with the final 12 months suspended for a period of 12 months for the count of sending explicit messages.
They also sentenced him to two years in custody for the count of possession of child abuse images, to run concurrently with the first.
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