Man sentenced for possessing indecent images of children

Thursday 11 May 2017

A 19-year-old man who had 137 indecent images of children has been sentenced to 120 hours community service in the Magistrate's Court.

Gustavo Nuno Patricio Leirinha also faced one charge of inciting the distribution of an indecent photograph of a child as he had been having conversation with girls he knew to be under-age and asked them for naked pictures.

The Court heard that the Police seized seven electronic devices at Leirinha's property in July 2016 after a media sting showed that he had been trying to interact with under-age girls online. They found 137 indecent images, 7 of which were 'level 4' - one step down from the most serious. Upon investigation, the Police also discovered that he had been talking to victims aged between 12 and 15, and asked one of them to "...see what was under her clothes" and received three pictures. 

His Advocate Emma Wakeling, noted that Leirinha was 17 at the time he contacted the girls. She said: "The contact was illegal but the age gap is not as big as what has been seen in other cases."

Handing down his sentence, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris reminded the Court that "...any offences relating to sexual abuse of children are very serious." He then continued: "You entered early guilty pleas on these matters and cooperated candidly with the Police officers. I accept that you have shown great remorse. You were 17 at the time of some of the offences and therefore you do not fit into some stereortypical image of a mature male adult preying on young children. Had the matters come to court before, you would have been in youth court and even at 19, you are a young offender.  

"There is nothing to suggest that you were actively involved in the making of those photographs or that you had intention to distribute them. You need to remember that any time there is a picture of a child of that nature, that child is a victim of a crime."

Leirinha received a 120-hour community service sentence as well as a 12-month probation order and a restraining order, which was requested by the Prosecution, led by Advocate Darry Robinson. The order means that Leirinha will have to produce any device he uses to access the Internet if the Police ask him to, so that they can examine the contents of the navigation history. He is also forbidden to use any software designed to erase the history or to encrypt data.

Explaining his decision to follow on the Prosecution's recommendations, the Assistant Magistrate said: "A restraining order can be imposed where the Court is satisfied that there is a risk of serious sexual harm. Obviously, your offences go back some ten months now and there is no suggestion of reoffending but their nature means I am satisfied that there is a risk, even though you may not understand it. The restraining order is necessary to reduce that risk to zero."

Leirinha has also been added to the Sexual Offenders Register and will have to wait five years before he can apply for the notification to be removed.