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Child Trafficking And Pornography Act, 1998

  • 03-11-2006 8:06pm
    #1
    Mr Burns
    Closed Accounts Posts: 119 ✭✭


    Hypothetical situation.
    Is there any offence committed under the above act if a person say working in the abuse dept of an ISP opened an email on their work computer containing images that are in clear violation of the 1998 act?

    Would any form of immunity exist in so far as it is part of the job etc?
    I note it was needed to pass the Child Trafficking and Pornography (Amendment) Act 2004 to allow the dail to look at what was allegedly on a computer belonging to a certain judge.

    Is it an offence to simply look at the images as would happen in an ISP abuse dept?

    I am not looking for legal advice and I shall not rely on any replies received as legal advice.


Comments

  • #2
    Tarakiwa
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 633 ✭✭✭Tarakiwa


    It is my understanding that no such immunity exists!

    The "Hotline" (www.hotline.ie) which was set up to report instances of child pornography to does not even have the immunity!! i.e. - if a member of the Hotline staff views the images reported to them then they are guilty of an offence!

    Thats my understanding anyway!!

    If you want any questions answered then I am sure that the Hotline is the best place for you to ask!

    T


  • #3
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Mr Burns wrote:
    Hypothetical situation.
    Is there any offence committed under the above act if a person say working in the abuse dept of an ISP opened an email on their work computer containing images that are in clear violation of the 1998 act?
    They could invoke section 6.2 (b) of said act
    6.—(1) Without prejudice to section 5(1)(e) and subject to subsections (2) and (3), any person who knowingly possesses any child pornography shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

    (a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or

    (b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.

    (2) Section 5(1) and subsection (1) shall not apply to a person who possesses child pornography—

    (a) in the exercise of functions under the Censorship of Films Acts, 1923 to 1992, the Censorship of Publications Acts, 1929 to 1967, or the Video Recordings Acts, 1989 and 1992, or

    (b) for the purpose of the prevention, investigation or prosecution of offences under this Act.

    (3) Without prejudice to subsection (2), it shall be a defence in a prosecution for an offence under section 5(1) or subsection (1) for the accused to prove that he or she possessed the child pornography concerned for the purposes of bona fide research.

    Interestingly enough, the Act doesn't make the possession of child pornography specifically illegal.


  • #4
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,580 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Mr Burns wrote:
    Is there any offence committed under the above act if a person say working in the abuse dept of an ISP opened an email on their work computer containing images that are in clear violation of the 1998 act?
    If one knew it contained illegal material, I suspect an offence has been committed.

    I don't think an offence has been committed if you opened an attachment, not knowing it to be child pornography, but at that point disconnect your network cable, leave the computer alone and call the Garda. In addition, the ISP should have a policy in place to deal with such situations.
    6.—(1) Without prejudice to section 5(1)(e) and subject to subsections (2) and (3), any person who knowingly possesses any child pornography shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
    Interestingly enough, the Act doesn't make the possession of child pornography specifically illegal.
    If you know you have it, its illegal.

    I suspect the test would be that you knew you had that specific material, i.e. you saw it, as opposed to you knew it was child pornography. If you see it, keep it and think its adult pornography or an innocent other image, you might still be committing an offence.

    Note it can be any image, it need not be a photo.


  • #5
    Overheal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 86,729 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    A case came up about 2 years ago where someone commited rape, photo'd the whole thing and then texted it in a very wide broadcast across the country.

    This is just one of the events that has actually taken place, and when it did, the Gardai advised anyone who recieved it to delete it imediately and to not send it on (which is common sense either way: the Mobile networks keep logs and Caches of all sent messages).

    Common sense really applies in my opinion: if you're sent it, and assuming you didnt instigate it in any way (such as signing up for something) it wouldn't really be something to send you to prison over. The good person in you should have the sense to back away and call the Authorites imediately, who would then check your PC to try to asertain the source of the e-mail (and check how innocent you may be, Im sure).

    On a somewhat related note, there was this in the news today: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20695948-663,00.html


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