The 17-year-old was arrested following an investigation by a Garda Divisional Protective Service Unit in Dublin and charged with 17 offences involving 392 images and videos
Dublin Children’s Court(Image: Courts.ie)
A Dublin teenage boy has been banned from internet access after he was charged with possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) featuring children as young as two years old.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, was arrested following an investigation by a Garda Divisional Protective Service Unit in Dublin and charged with 17 offences involving 392 images and videos.
He appeared at the Dublin Children’s Court on Friday, accused of eight counts of production and nine charges of possessing child sexual abuse material on a date in October 2025.
The court heard his home was searched, and more electronic devices were seized and examined, eight of which returned positive for CSAM. Among them were 65 sexual images, 44 sexual videos, 222 child exposure images, 60 child exposure videos, and one anime image.
The court heard there was a large volume of unique videos and images, many of which were “self-generated” or screen recordings. The court heard the material featured abuse of children, some as young as two years of age.
Detective Garda Carol Corrigan told Judge Brendan Toale that the boy made no reply to each offence.
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Opposing bail, she cited the seriousness of the case. The Director of Public Prosecutions recommends that the case be sent to the Circuit Court, which has wider sentencing powers; however, a decision on his trial venue remains outstanding.
The court heard that, arising out of a separate investigation, electronic devices were seized from the boy and submitted to the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau.
Analysis found a large volume of messages between the boy and a 12-year-old girl, Detective Garda Corrigan said.
She maintained that during the exchanges, the accused spoke of having child pornography saved on separate devices and “clearing his phone of material on a regular basis, presumably to avoid detection”.
In his garda interview, the schoolboy gave no account for having the material. The detective feared he could commit further offences, and during the investigation, she discovered he had “disturbing chats” with others online and “he has a clear disdain for women”.
Detective Garda Corrigan said there was a concern about the teen’s offending escalating or that he would turn to violence.
A safety plan had been put in place by Tusla, the child and family agency, stating that his parents would not allow him to go online unsupervised, but the officer believed it was not being enforced.
The detective described the boy as a danger to young females and actively seeking out vulnerable young girls. She added that bail conditions would not alleviate her concerns.
The court heard the boy has stated that “he has been on the dark web and made reference to people paying a lot of money for child pornography and rape services.”
He had no prior criminal convictions or warrant history.
The teen’s mother became visibly upset during the hearing.
Defence counsel Orla Keenan successfully challenged bail objections related to failure to appear in court, interference with a witness, or destruction of evidence, arguing they were unsupported.
The detective agreed with Ms Keenan that the self-generated pictures were of the accused, and the screen recordings featured young females sourced online.
The second set of bail objections concerned the seriousness of the allegations, but counsel stressed the lack of previous convictions or a pattern of offending.
The judge said it was a serious case; however, the court could impose a series of conditions restricting him from possessing devices with internet access, attending counselling, and imposing a curfew.
The youth, yet to enter a plea, spoke only to confirm he understood the bail terms and to acknowledge a warning that breaking them could result in being remanded in custody.
He will appear again in June to schedule a preliminary hearing to determine his trial venue.
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