A former RTÉ employee has been jailed for a year for possessing sexual images of children.
Justin Greene, aged 52, from Enfield in Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Trim Circuit Criminal Court on 6 October last year to one count of possessing six images at his home on 15 May 2022.
At a sentencing hearing on 6 March this year, the court heard that six images classed as child pornography under the legislation were found after gardaí seized Greene's phone at his home.
The court heard the offence involved graphic sexual images of teenage girls aged between 12 and 15 years old.
Greene worked as a studio director in the News and Current Affairs division.
In a statement issued this afternoon, following inquiries from RTÉ News, RTÉ said Greene resigned unexpectedly in mid March.
It said the resignation received by RTÉ on 13 March gave no stated reason and the organisation was completely unaware that he had been convicted and sentenced at a local Circuit Court, until after the resignation was received.
RTÉ said it established some limited details about the nature of the case after the resignation. However, it said it was unclear at the time if there were any restrictions put in place by the court to protect the identity of the victims.
RTÉ also said it has received no communication from An Garda Síochána about the matter.
The criminal complaint originated with Greene’s use of social media platform 'Kik' where images were being shared.
Authorities in the United States alerted the Garda Child Exploitation Unit and local gardaí were then informed.
Prosecuting counsel, Carl Hanahoe, told the sentencing hearing that Greene had co-operated with gardaí.
Defence lawyers said that Greene had downloaded the material in November and December 2021 and thought he had deleted all the images in January 2022.
The offences had taken place at a difficult time in his life during which Greene’s online activities "led to a fascination with teenage girls", the court was told.
Lawyers for the defence told Judge John Martin that Greene had invested heavily in a career path that was now at an end.
He was "absolutely ashamed and remorseful" the court was told and had sought counselling after his arrest.
Sentencing Greene, Judge Martin said the images had not been accidentally saved on Greene’s phone but that he had "actively sought out and saved them".
The judge said sentencing was "not an act of vengeance" but an act of justice that must contain an element of punishment and rehabilitation.
He said there were no victim impact statements in the case but that the legislation existed for the defence of innocent defenceless victims.
Judge Martin noted that a probation report had assessed Greene as being at a "moderate risk" of reoffending.
He sentenced him to 18 months in prison but he suspended the final six months on condition that he co-operates fully with the probation service and attends courses and counselling recommended by the service during his sentence. He said Greene was now subject to the sex offenders' register.
Greene cried as the sentence was imposed.
In the statement issued this afternoon, RTÉ also said Greene did not have an allocated RTÉ phone. And it said it implements advanced firewall filtering technologies across all its networks and digital infrastructure.
