COLIN TULLY FROM LUAN AND CO DUBLIN SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSES IN DUBLIN CIRCUIT COURT

In April 2012, a young man from Lucan, County Dublin, was sentenced in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after admitting to possessing a significant collection of child pornography. Colin Tully, aged 24, residing at Woodview in Lucan, was found to have stored a total of 69 computer files that contained explicit material involving minors. These files included 44 videos and 15 images that depicted young children in sexually explicit poses, raising serious concerns about the nature of his activities.

Detective Garda Martin Hogan provided detailed insights into the case, revealing that 30 of the video files showed children aged between 10 and 14 years old being subjected to oral sex or full sexual acts. An additional 14 video files, along with 15 still images, also depicted children within the same age range engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The investigation indicated that Tully’s interest in such material had evolved from mere curiosity to actively downloading and storing these images for personal viewing at any time.

Detective Hogan emphasized that while Tully had progressed from passive viewing to possession, there was no evidence to suggest he had engaged in direct contact with children or was involved in any form of child exploitation beyond viewing and storing the images. The officer stated that the next logical step in such behavior would be interaction with minors, but Tully had not reached that stage.

During proceedings, Tully pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography at his residence on August 8, 2010. Prosecutor Tara Burns informed the court that, during Garda interviews, Tully was asked to view a sample of the images, to which he responded that they were not child pornography. Defense counsel John Quirke clarified that his client was not involved in exchanging, distributing, or producing such images. Garda Hogan concurred, noting that there was no evidence to suggest Tully was actively seeking out children or involved in extreme adult pornography.

Further, Mr. Quirke explained that Tully had recently experienced the death of his father, which he attributed to feelings of guilt. A psychological report indicated that Tully was at a low to moderate risk of reoffending. In light of these circumstances, Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Tully to two years in prison, but the sentence was suspended, meaning Tully would not serve time unless he committed another offense during the suspension period.