The sentencing of a Portadown man, found in possession of 77 vile images and videos depicting children suffering the worst forms of sexual abuse, was brought up in Stormont on Tuesday morning.
Gerald Malone, of Tandragee Road, was handed 80 hours of community service and a two-year probation order.
DUP MLA, Jonathan Buckley – himself a Portadown man – brought the issue to the Assembly floor in a bid to address the “injustice” that he said “has left many in my constituency feeling a sense of utter disgust and bewilderment at the state of our legal system”.
Pointing to our report on Monday, Mr Buckley said that 28-year-old man “contributed to a cycle of harrowing abuse”.
“Members, let me be clear, these were not just images and videos,” his unwavering sense of disdain echoing around the chamber.
“Each one represents a child who was exploited. Their innocence, stolen; their pain, recorded for the pleasure of predators to consume by possessing them. This man contributed to the cycle of abuse. He is not just a bystander. He was complicit. And yet, instead of a lengthy prison sentence, he was handed just 80 hours of community service and two years probation.
“Members, we cannot blame the police. In this instance, they carried out a robust, thorough investigation, only to be failed once again, by our judiciary.
“His case is not in isolation. Let’s look at the BBC. Former journalist Huw Edwards, again, possession of indecent images and videos avoided jail. Those that supplied him with the images, avoided jail.
“In 2023, the National Crime Agency said that eight out of 10 people in the United Kingdom caught with indecent images of children being sexually abused avoided jail. This is an absolute shocking state of facts.
“So often members talk in this place often about the dangerous place that this society is for women, and that is true, but please, let’s put a razor-like focus on the abuse our young people and children are facing right throughout this country.”
Mr Buckley referred to grooming gang abuse throughout the UK “whether it be Telford or Rochdale or other areas”.
He then questioned: “Are the police aware of any similar grooming gangs here in Northern Ireland, we simply don’t know how deep this could go? How does this protect our children? How is this justice? Our judiciary is failing our police force, it’s failing our children, and it’s time that we took action.”
