Crumlin pervert sentenced for possession of indecent images of children
Peter James Morris, 28 was fined £4000 for possession of child abuse images in July 1997.
The Police raided Morris’ home in Crumlin, after a disk he left behind at a Belfast Internet cafe was found to contain indecent images of children.
The police found images of child pornography in computer discs and also on Morris’ computer’s hard disk. Morris admitted getting the material off the Internet and he told the police that he had started peering at adult pornography and that the ‘funny stuff’ – child abuse images appeared with the material he had downloaded.
Resident Magistrate Chris Milner at the Antrim Magistrates Court said that the ‘spread of pornography on the Internet is a matter of public concern’ and anyone found with illegal photos of children will be hit with severe penalties. He told Morris that he was lucky to escape jail. Mr Milner stated that:
The fine reflects my own revulsion and what the public expects me to do. I am not going to hand out some paltry fine of £100 or £200.
It is also right and proper that people with perverted tendencies who might get some sort of lustful satisfaction from this material should be aware that this is an offence. I think the warning should be made clearly that the mere possession of these photographs carries a custodial sentence and a very heavy fine.’
A defence lawyer for Morris stated that, ‘once one opens this Pandora’s box one can receive all sorts of images.’ He told the court that Morris was a voyeur and not a paedophile. The child pornography had ‘reviled him and completely upset him’ according to the lawyer.
