A County Tyrone man who claimed to have descended into internet pornography after a relationship broke down, then drifted into “repugnant” child sexual imagery, has been placed on Probation for three years.

The judge at Dungannon Crown Court expressed horror at the content noting: “The depravity is extraordinary.”

Garrett Joseph McBrien (38) from Ecclesville Heights, Fintona pleaded guilty to nine offences out of 15 with the remainder left on the court books.

Two year period

The accepted charges spanned a two year period from 2014 to 2016 and included attempting to incite a female child to carry out a sexual act with a hairbrush.

He also attempted to encourage a second female child to engage in sexual communication and attempted to show a child an indecent image.

There were four counts of possessing indecent images of children, some of which included videos, and a single count of distributing an indecent image.

The court heard McBrien had become unhappy in his relationship and began using a dating site, which then led to another chat application.

Through this he exchanged sexually explicit material and engaged in sexual conversations with people purporting to be teenage girls.

The images were delivered in batches alongside adult pornography and no child searches were recovered during examination of his computer equipment.

McBrien accepted he was sexually interested in and attracted to the children.

A total of 1,471 images were found, consisting of 1,287 pictures and 184 videos. Of these, 118 images and 128 videos were at Category A.

Judge Brian Sherrard QC remarked: “The depravity is extraordinary.”

He went on to detail the examples of videos, one of which showed the rape of a female child by an adult male.

The judge said anyone with some insight into the images available: “Could not help but be shocked. I find myself horrified by the material.”

Medium risk

While McBrien accepted contacting females knowing they were underage, Judge Sherrard told him: “I see little merit in the observation that they were already sexualised. Any right-minded person would find these actions abhorrent and the conversations show age was important to you.”

He said McBrien’s former good character has been lost forever and the convictions will have implications for the rest of his life.

A pre-sentence report classed McBrien as a medium risk of reoffending, but he is not considered dangerous.

The judge noted however that although McBrien demonstrated understanding of the long term effects on victims.

“It is of some considerable concern that you still do not recognise your own actions equated to child abuse.”

It was accepted admissions were made: “More or less from the outset of police intervention” and although satisfied the custody threshold was met, Judge Sherrard took on board the delay in getting the matter to court.

McBrien has also undertaken extensive rehabilitation, including targeted work around emotional regulation and sexual addiction.

Judge Sherrard said the offending could be described as “repugnant”, but also exceptional given the progress McBrien has made, although further work is required.

“While you are reluctant to accept it, these actions represent child abuse, just as much as if the child had been with you,” he told McBrien.

A three year Probation Order was handed down: “To try to ensure rehabilitation and protection of the community.”

In addition, Judge Sherrard imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order as well as sex offender registration, with both to run for five years.