Man caught with child porn exposed himself

A 42-YEAR-old Louth man who has been repeatedly caught with child pornography exposed himself to children on their way to school, a court has heard.

Barry Watters was later caught with child pornography by gardaí who had spotted him entering an internet cafe and were able to remotely monitor what he was viewing.

Watters pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of indecency in the city in December 2014, and possession of child pornography at Middle Abbey Street on October 20, 2016.

He has six previous convictions, mainly for possession of child pornography over the past 10 years and one for criminal damage where he soiled a cell at a Garda station.

Formerly of Infirmary Road, Dublin, and originally from Dundalk, Co Louth, he was remanded in custody by Judge Martina Baxter, who ordered a psychologist’s report ahead of sentencing on December 3.

She said Watters would have to be released back into the community at some stage and the community had to be protected. She asked that the psychologist’s report address this.

A plea in mitigation on behalf of Watters by his legal team will also be concluded in December.

Lawyers for Watters submitted the offences were an addiction triggered by crisis points in his life. Watters had not come to Garda attention until 10 years ago at the age of 32 and his life had gone “progressively off the rails” after 2008.

Watters had been made homeless a number of times after the media drew attention to where he was living.