Dublin man convicted child porn charges 'forced out of his home'

A man who had pornographic images of children as young as10 on his phone was forced to leave his home because of media reports of these offences, a court has heard.

Dublin man convicted child porn charges 'forced out of his home'

A man who had pornographic images of children as young as10 on his phone was forced to leave his home because of media reports of these offences, a court has heard.

Kevin Bowes (aged 61) was caught after he accidently sent an image of a naked 12-year-old girl to a female acquaintance, who reported it to gardaí.

He later told this woman he would cut her throat if she didn’t drop the charges.

Bowes and his co-accused Kenneth Powell (aged 47) were found with a total of 92 images depicting children engaged in sexual activity with each other and with adults.

The boys and girls depicted were aged from under 10 and up to 17 and some of the images showed young teenage girls dressed in school uniforms.

Bowes of Markievicz House, Townsend Street, Dublin and Powell of Bessborough Avenue, North Strand, Dublin both pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of child pornography at their homes in March 2011.

Bowes also pleaded guilty to intimidating a witness at Markievicz House on July 12, 2011.

Judge Patricia Ryan asked for Probation Service reports to be carried out on both men.

She remanded them in custody for sentencing in October and ordered that they be registered as sex offenders.

Detective Inspector Michael Cryan told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that in January 2011 Bowes inadvertently sent an image to Carol Anne Montgomery, who he knew. The image was captioned "She's 12, she's 12".

The woman brought the image to gardaí and in March 2011 they went to Bowes' flat and seized three mobile phones.

Gardaí found thousands of texts sent between Bowes and a man named in the phone as “Kinky Ken” or “Master Ken”.

Gardaí linked this contact number to Powell. Some of the texts were lurid in detail and Powell talked about abusing children in 39 messages.

The following July Bowes threatened Ms Montgomery, telling her through the door of a flat: "I will cut your throat if you don't drop the charges".

He also said: "Tell her she has to pass my door on the way out and I'll slit her throat".

Ms Montgomery said that because of the threats the victim slept with a spade beside her bed and an iron bar in the sitting room and she stopped walking her dogs in a neighbourhood park for fear of meeting Bowes.

Paddy McGrath SC, defending Bowes, said his client was forced out of his home twice after this case was reported in the newspapers.

He said there was a march on his home in Markievicz House and he was driven out not long after he had made the threats to Ms Montgomery.

Since then he had been living with a friend but that man asked him to leave after the details of his offences were recently reported. Counsel also blamed media reports for Bowes' non-engagement with the Probation Services.

His previous convictions include robbery and the breach of a protection order in 1992.

Powell admitted a separate charge of sending an indecent message by telephone on February 14, 2011.

He had telephoned Child Fund Ireland, a charity which allows people to sponsor children in the developing world, and made obscene comments to the volunteer staff manning the telephones.

Det Instr Cryan said that the volunteers had found the calls particularly disturbing.

Powell was previously convicted of harassment in 2000, criminal damage and intoxication in 2008 and shoplifting of a bottle of wine last year.

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