Judge says ‘wrong’ to put child-like dolls man on sex offenders register

A judge has said it would be “wrong” to place a man who used child-like dolls as “masturbatory aids” on the sex offenders register.

Mark Wright, 27, from Corrig in Stradbally, Co Laois, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography that was stored on a computer hard drive -with the court hearing he also had “penetrable” child dolls ordered to his home.

In a sentencing hearing before Portlaoise Circuit Court on Wednesday, the court heard that all 102 videos and images found on the hard drive were defined under the Act as being child pornography – and that they were all animated in nature and were not real-life children.

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Presiding Judge Keenan Johnson would later tell the hearing, having heard the full facts of the case, that it would be “wrong” for Mr Wright to be placed on the sex offenders register because his culpability was at the lowest – due to the fact that he had since been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome – and that a clinical neuropsychologist determined he was of “no risk” to children.

The Judge added that the case involved “non-human” cartoon characters and stated that it would be “totally disproportionate” for Mr Wright, whom he indicated would not receive a prison sentence, to be placed on the sex offenders register.

Giving evidence, Garda Sergeant John Masterson of Thurles Garda Station said that his colleague examined files discovered on Mr Wright’s hard drive which depicted children aged between one and 12 years old, which he said were “animated in nature”.

Mr Wright had pleaded guilty to possession of the child abuse material found on the hard drive – with two remaining charges pertaining to the discovery of the dolls and importation of one of them taken into consideration by the court.

Sergeant Masterson agreed with the prosecution that the investigation began when a “suspicious package” was intercepted at the customs office in Dublin on October 9, 2017 – and was then taken into Garda possession in May 2018.

Sgt Masterson described the item as a “plastic torso of what looked to be a child with a penetrable vagina”. The intended recipient of the doll was Mark Wright, with his address in Corrig, Stradbally, Co Laois visible on the package, the court heard.

Gardaí subsequently obtained a search warrant and searched Wright’s family home on July 24, 2018. The court heard that Mr Wright admitted under caution that he had purchased the item seized by customs using a Swirl card – a type of transaction that does not show up on a bank account.

He also admitted to possession of six other “similar items” found inside his home, which Sgt Masterson told the court had “different orifices and body parts, designed to be penetrated sexually” and which were imported from Japan and China.

Sgt Masterson told the court that the items also came in packaging that were depicted in a “anime cartoon type format” of “children in a sexualised way”. Defence barrister Colm Hennessy BL, for Mr Wright, asked Sgt Masterson if his client had openly indicated to Gardaí in interview that the dolls were used as “masturbatory aids”. “Yes, that’s what he said,” Sgt Masterson replied.

He had also indicated to Gardaí that he had viewed animated porn that depicted child characters online – but that he did not realise this to be a crime or child pornography. Mr Hennessy said his client was asked direct questions in the interview and told Gardaí that the dolls were a “male masturbator” and were used “for masturbating purposes”.

“He wasn’t trying to sugar coat it,” the Defence barrister said.

He said his client had an interest in “Japanese culture” and “anime” and had insisted he has “never watched child porn” but that he “watched drawings having sex”.

He had also insisted to Gardaí that he was never on any illegal website and has “no sexual interest in children”. He told the court that his client had told Gardaí he did not view the material as “children, just cartoons”.

“I don’t view them as children, just cartoons,” the court heard he said.

Judge Johnson was handed a recent psychological report by clinical neuropsychologist Dr Catherine Norton, who had determined that the accused is a “vulnerable adult” who has autism, Asperger’s and a sexual interest in anime cartoons.

Dr Norton determined that the accused has “severe deficiencies in social behaviour” and issues that have only been diagnosed now. The doctor noted in her report that a person with such vulnerability should have a full-time carer, and recommended that Mr Wright’s father, who was supporting him in court, should apply for this.

She found in her report that the accused man “spends all his time drawing” and has a “fascination” with anime – that his best friend apart from his family is his cat, and that he “does not like being around people”.

The Defence put it to the court that Dr Norton’s report indicates that Mr Wright is of no risk to children and that he has a sexual orientation directed towards anime cartoons. Judge Johnson told the court that he thinks Mr Wright has a “fascination with animation,” something he said was “common with that age group”.

He said Mr Wright’s level of culpability was “on the lowest end” and said that he would not be handing down a custodial sentence. Judge Johnson enquired why the matter was before the Circuit Court, with Sgt Masterson responding that the Director of Public Prosecution pursued the matter as it was the “first of its kind”.

The Judge consulted with both Defence and Prosecution about whether a person convicted of this offence has to be on the sex offenders register and whether the court was “at large to terminate that”.

He concluded that it would be “wrong” for Mr Wright to be placed on the register and complimented the Defence on what he said was their doing of a “great service to your client”.

Judge Johnson said it would be best to adjourn the matter in order to properly assess whether he had the power to impose an order that would keep Mr Wright off the sex offenders register after sentence.

He stated that child abuse material offences are such an “abhorrence in society in general”, but that “things get passed through without proper scrutiny”.

He said that the courts “have to be careful how to structure a sentence,” and said that Mr Wright’s family have been “to hell and back,” noting also the publicity the case has attracted.

Judge Johnson placed the matter back to next term – in October, for sentencing, stating he would “try to bring it to a conclusion that serves the interests of justice”.

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