A 35-year-old man who admitted filming himself sexually abusing an infant boy, and who then shared the video footage with others, has been sentenced for six years, with the final two years suspended.
Jamie Marshall, with an address in Limerick city, pleaded guilty to knowingly possessing child pornography, knowingly producing child pornography, knowingly distributing child pornography; defilement of a child; and using communication technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child, on or before 30 December 2020.
Judge Tom O'Donnell lifted reporting restrictions to allow Marshall to be identified.
He said Marshall was entitled to "credit" on his sentence for pleading guilty to all of the charges at the earliest opportunity, for fully co-operating with the garda investigation, and for having been in custody awaiting sentence since 2 May 2023. He had not taken up bail.
However, the judge said he had to impose an immediate custodial sentence, and he described Marshall’s behaviour as "appalling, vile, egregious, and despicable".
"It was depravity of the highest order with an infant child," the judge added.
Marshall had denied in interviews with gardaí that he had a sexual predilection for children.
He told gardaí the abuse occurred because he was taking cocaine and when he took this drug he became "a creep".
However, his barrister Brian McInerney SC, told the court that Marshall no longer blamed cocaine.
"He must accept what he did, no one is to blame but himself and he is deeply ashamed of his behaviour."
Marshall filmed himself abusing the boy and uploaded the material to social media platform Kik, which alerted the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn contacted gardaí.
Marshall had uploaded and shared 15 videos and two images of sexual acts involving children, including the infant boy, as well as images and videos of a number of underage girls that were shared with him by a third party, whom Marshall did not identify.
Marshall was identified by gardaí in the videos with the boy because of distinctive tattoos on his forearms. He had also used his email address to set up his account.
Reading a victim impact statement on behalf of her son, the boy's mother told the court: "I never thought that something like this would come to my family, I never thought my son would be violated in such a way, it was such a shock to me, my family and friends."
The woman said the abuse of her son had destroyed her mental health.
She said she could not forgive Marshall for what he had done. She added: "I think about it every day. I would be more cautious about who I leave my son around because I can't trust anybody after this."
Speaking outside the court after the sentencing hearing, the woman said her son was now "thriving" with the support of his family circle.
