Suspended sentence for 39,792 child abuse images

A SLOVAKIAN national who told gardaí that he first started downloading images of child abuse as a 15-year-old boy has received an 18month suspended sentence.

Marian Minarik, 40, who has been living in Ireland for the last 12 years, was caught after gardaí were contacted by Luxembourg authorities who had been investigating the downloading of images from a particular website.

Detective Garda Gary Moran said Minarik’s home was searched and a laptop and a hard-drive were seized. A total of 39,792 images of child abuse and 404 videos of child abuse were later recovered.

Minarik immediately admitted to gardaí when they arrived at his home that he had downloaded child pornography. He later told gardaí in interview that he first started downloading child pornography when he was 15 years old. He denied he had any compulsion to have sex with children but accepted that he sometimes got sexual gratification from viewing the images.

Minarik, with an address at Mountjoy Square, Dublin , pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of child pornography on dates between March 2009 and July 2010. He denied any involvement in the production and distribution of child pornography and Det. Gda Moran confirmed that gardaí were satisfied that he only downloaded images and videos for his own use.

A forensic psychologist’s report stated that there were concerns that Minarik had a lack of understanding and a lack of insight into his crimes

Judge Cormac Quinn took into account Minarik’s early guilty plea, his full co-operation with gardaí, his remorse and full admissions.

He suspended the sentence for 18 months and ordered that Minarik undertake a sex offender treatment programme and offence-focused work as directed by the Probation Service.