A married father of two will serve three years and six months in prison for the possession of child sexual abuse material, referred to in law as child pornography, attempted production of child pornography and attempted sexual exploitation of a child.
Sligo Circuit Court heard that 39-year-old Clive Goulden had been a user of certain platforms where he communicated with others, including children as young as 12 years of age.
Goulden, who is from Co Sligo, used a modified version of an mobile phone application called KIK, which allowed him to send spam style messages to multiple users.
If the spam was received, the user would receive an intimate image of Goulden.
He was ultimately apprehended with a person whom he believed was a 12-year-old girl called 'Katelyn' - but who was actually a covert UK police officer.
The Garda National Protective Services Bureau received a file from UK police that identified Goulden as someone who had engaged in highly sexualised conversation with a person whom he believed was a 12-year-old girl.
The communication happened on KIK and Skype between 15 January 2021 and 2 February 2021.
Gardaí obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s home in Co Sligo, which was executed on 4 June 2021.
Detective Garda Lydia Cawley outlined the evidence during the trial.
Screenshots of the chatlogs were provided to Judge Kenneth Connolly.
The court heard Goulden sent highly sexualised communications to Katelyn, including an intimate video of himself.
Judge Connolly said some content of the exchanges was too graphic to be read in court.
There were ten images and 30 videos of child sexual abuse on Goulden’s phone, including one image of a baby girl, aged between six and 12 months old, who suffered injuries due to sexual abuse.
Judge Connolly said the images were truly repulsive, adding the "description of images were not only truly repulsive but also physically sickening".
He said the fact Goulden is a father is utterly chilling.
The judge said Goulden showed a complete disregard for this child and it seemed there was a rationalisation on Goulden’s part that this was not real, which was not acceptable by the court.
Judge Connolly said the ripple effect of this offending is huge.
He said Goulden is a well educated man with an excellent employment history, who enjoyed an excellent family with devoted wife who wrote letters of support.
Judge Connolly acknowledged that Goulden attended therapy with the One in Four organisation that were not on the court order.
He noted Goulden had to have supervised contact with his children and was subject to a family-led care strategy for his children and abided by the regulations meticulously.
The court heard he had no previous convictions.
The court also heard it was established in July 2024 that Goulden was at a low risk of re-offending in the next 12-month period.
The court ordered the destruction of the android mobile phone that contained the child sexual abuse images.
The court heard Goulden rendered an apology to the victims, his wife, his children and his family.
Last January, Goulden told the court that he knows these are not victimless crimes, adding that he "couldn’t apologise enough" for his actions.
"It’s just disgusting and horrific even hearing it back … I want to be better than that and I want to prove that," he said.
Goulden’s wife said in a letter to the court that her husband carries immense remorse and his children, aged four and two, see him as their world.
She said she was worried about her children if he is absent.
She said she hoped the judge could take this into consideration along with the extensive work her husband had done with One in Four.
Judge Connolly acknowledged Ms Goulden’s correspondence. He also remarked that someone else’s child was sexually abused for the sexual gratification of Goulden.
He set a headline sentence of five years and two months and suspended the final 20 months for a period of four years post-release subject to several conditions.
Mr Leo Mulrooney BL and State solicitor Ms Elisa McHugh prosecuted, while Mr Colm Smyth SC, Eoin McGovern BL and McGovern Walsh solicitors appeared for the defendant.
Goulden was sentenced on three charges of possession of child pornography, attempted production of child pornography and attempted communication to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child to run concurrently.
Three charges concerning attempting to invite a child to sexual touching, engaging in sexual activity in presence of a child and attempting to cause a child to watch person engage in sexual activity were taken into consultation.
Goulden forwarded to the court a signed plea of guilty to all charges, contesting none.
