A former secondary school music teacher has been jailed after he admitted possessing depraved videos and images of adults sexually abusing children as young as three.
Sam Kavanagh, (30), with an address at Kilkerric, Derrymore East, Tralee, Co Kerry, was arrested by gardaí after they were alerted to his offending by authorities in America.
One of the 162 videos and images found on a laptop and hard-drive owned by Kavanagh, involved a three-year old girl, who was recorded on video with her genitals and anal area exposed for viewers sexual gratification, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Kavanagh was identified after he used his own personal email address to manage a “Dropbox” online storage folder to upload and keep the illegal sex material.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing the explicit material on dates between September and December 2021.
Gardaí unearthed 137 videos and 25 images, most of which were classified as “Category One” child sex abuse material, the “most extreme” form, a detective garda told the court.
Prosecuting barrister, John O’Sullivan said gardaí established that Kavanagh was a secondary school music teacher who was living in the Patrickswell area, Co Limerick.
Later on, gardaí obtained a search warrant for an address at Shannon Banks, Corbally, Co Clare, and raided the property on December 17th, 2021, recovering a laptop and a computer hard-drive containing the explicit material.
Kavanagh immediately confessed the devices were his, and he admitted owning, saving, servicing, and storing the child abuse material which he said he had downloaded from a website called “Mega” which is based in New Zealand.
Mr O’Sullivan said one of the images found on Kavanagh’s devices was of an “adult male” engaging in “explicit sexual activity” with “a young female, aged five”.
One of the videos showed a “female toddler, aged three, lying on a bed where her genitals and anal region are exposed".
Some of the material showed underage teenagers involved in sexual activity with younger children.
Mr O’Sullivan said the videos and images are held in the United States but were shared with members of the Garda Online Child Exploitation Unit, which in turn provided it to gardaí attached to the Limerick Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU) at Henry Street Garda Station, by way of a “mutual assistance” arrangement between Ireland and the US.
Kavanagh was arrested on December 14th, 2022, and he appeared before the circuit court for trial on a signed guilty plea, on October 31st this year.
Mr O’Sullivan said Kavanagh grew up in Co Kerry, obtained a Masters in Music, had lectured in music, and “plays music as a hobby and is involved in a band, and he taught music to children in Limerick”.
“His parents split up when he was young, he suffered from anxiety and he began watching pornography, and he started watching child pornography,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
The court heard that Kavanagh, who was last known to be working in a warehouse, was hospitalised following an attempted suicide after gardaí seized his electronic devices.
“He didn’t originally see it as child abuse, he engaged with ‘(SALT) Sex & Love Therapy’ counselling services and he now regrets his actions and said it is disgusting,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Kavanagh’s barrister, Caroline O’Connell, instructed by solicitor Eimear Griffin, asked the court to consider imposing a suspended sentence adding that, Kavanagh had engaged in counselling and “made a great effort to address his problems”.
“He is married. He has huge shame and remorse,” Ms O’Connell said.
Judge Colin Daly said Kavanagh had “sought out and used it (the explicit material), and that “very vulnerable and innocent children were being used and abused for the sexual gratification of Mr Kavanagh and others”.
“At the time he (Kavanagh) was a music teacher in a position of trust and influence on young children.”
After taking into consideration Kavanagh’s signed guilty plea; previous good character; his age and family circumstances; and any poor mental health he may have been experiencing at the time, the judge reduced a headline sentence of two and half years to, 16 months on each count, to run concurrently.
The judge ordered that Kavanagh should be placed on a Sex Offender’s Register for a period of 10 years, and that the sentences be backdated to October 31st, 2024, when Kavanagh was first before the court on a signed plea.
