All,
I spotted a post on boards.ie (a very popular Irish Discussion forum) where a user has anonymously posted that she found hundreds of pics on her husbands computer which he verified he downloaded in a zip file.
Post can be read here http//
I was just wondering what the FF communities thoughts on this are.
I know my own thoughts and have taken all the action I possibly can but wanted to open a discussion on it.
To paraphrase the topic (in case you don't want to read it all) - the OP stated she found hundreds of topless images of girls aged between 11-15 approx on beaches. A confrontation ensued and husband verified he downloaded them in a zip file but that they are not CP as you can see this type of image on any beach in Europe during summer.
There was a varied type of response before the thread was locked with most people saying he needs help and a number recommending getting the Gardai (Irish Police Force) involved.
Those pictures would be illegal and should be reported to the police (based on UK law - as i don't know for ireland explicitly)
Those pictures would be illegal and should be reported to the police (based on UK law - as i don't know for ireland explicitly)
In Ireland, the pictures have to depict either the ano-genital area or have to contain or be for the purpose of provoking a explicit sexual act. According to the wife's post, the images were of topless minor females but not depicting sex acts.
That isn't to say that the man doesn't have a problem, but he may not be guilty of a crime under Ireland's Child Trafficking and Pornography Act of 1998. On the other hand, it would be up to law enforcement or the court to make such a determination if there was any question so I'd probably err on the side of the law and request an investigation.
EDIT I should have mentioned, however, that the European Union member countries have a stricter obligation (than in the US) to protect an individual's right to privacy even in a public place. For example, Princess Carolyn sued a German publication which printed photos of her tripping on beach, shopping, etc., and the EU court sided with her. So, individuals at a topless beach in the EU may still have the right to privacy even if there are thousands of people on the beach. The individuals in these photos could have a civil case against the photographers or distributors of the photos.
Learn a new thing every day 😉
The question would be, "what else is on the computer".
My opinion is that it would be best to stop it now, rather than let it turn into more of a problematic obsession.
From what Sean posted, it sounds like the Irish laws are similar to the Australian laws that I used to work under. The image of the child has to be sexual in some way, or focused on the exposed genitals of a child to be refused classification and thereby be considered CP. If that's the case, then there's no crime here.
An old police colleague of mine used to say that the difference between porn and art is that one is hanging on the wall of a gallery, the other is hanging on the back of the toilet door. There is/was a well known photographer (artist) who specialised in nude photos of children, and his work was required reading for certain university art courses. Just because it's children or nudity doesn't make it illegal, although if he's using it to masturbate to, then it's certainly immoral, but we don't police morals.