Faux 'hacking victim' guilty of making paedophilic images

Friday 30 October 2020

A 33-year-old, who claimed his email accounts had been targeted by hackers, has been found guilty of making 270 indecent images of children.

Daniel Rory Stephen Heaney will now be sentenced before the Royal Court on 4 December.

He was found guilty of five counts of making indecent images of children following a two-day trial before Royal Court Comissioner Julian Clyde-Smith and Jurats Charles Blampied and Jerry Ramsden.

It comes after a UK police force contacted the Jersey Police about Heaney’s online activities. In June 2019, local officers went to Heaney’s home and seized a large number of items, including two laptops, a hard drive and a mobile phone. A second mobile phone was seized at a later date.

Heaney confirmed all devices belonged to him and gave officers a list of possible passwords so they could access them.

Pictured: Heaney's devices were examined by High Tech Crime officers.

High Tech Crime officers examined the devices and found they contained indecent images of children. In total, 270 of such files - some of which were videos - were recovered. 

Officers also analysed Heaney’s internet history records, which contained names and page titles suggestive of paedophilic content between October and December 2014. Search terms and viewed files also contained terms which were associated with paedophilic content. 

Heaney, who was represented by Advocate Francesca Pinel, maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, saying his email accounts had been hacked by someone. 

During the trial, the Court heard from Forensic Experts, who said that to hack the devices in the manner suggested would require a level of sophistication usually only seen in state-sponsored hacking teams working for geopolitical or intelligence reasons.

The case, which was led by Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, has now been adjourned until 4 December, when Heaney will be sentenced.

Pictured: Heaney's sentence will be set on 4 December.

Following the conclusion of the trial, Police said: “The viewing and making of indecent images causes real harm to real children. It creates a market and demand for these types of pictures so leads to further abuse.

"It is far from a victimless crime, the children in the pictures are real children, who suffer real harm. We are committed to catching those who offend in this way. 

“Anyone who has concerns about suspected Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation can contact the MASH on 519000 or the Public Protection Unit at Police Headquarters via 612612. Dewberry House can be contacted on 888222.”