A woman who had worked in a crèche was jailed today for distributing child pornography videos. 

Evelyn Ajie (51) of Clifton Terrace, Summerhill North, Cork, was jailed today for nine months, with no portion suspended. She had appeared before Cork District Court where she pleaded guilty to three charges.

The first count states that: “On 1 September, 2019, she did knowingly distribute child pornography, whereby she knowingly showed it or facilitated any activity for the purpose of distribution, publication, exportation or show.”

A similar charge related to events on 5 October, 2019.

The third charge is that she knowingly had stored on a device in her possession three videos described as child pornography.

Sexual abuse of a baby

Ajie belonged to WhatsApp groups in Italy, Spain and her native Nigeria. She received the pornographic videos, which involved the sexual abuse of a baby and pre-pubescent boy of 12, in a WhatsApp group, and distributed them to others.

Her solicitor Pat Horan told the court that his client had lived in Ireland for 18 years and was without previous convictions.

Judge Olann Kelleher described the matter as extremely serious, said she “knew exactly what she was doing” and it wasn’t a once-off incident.

He added that he had a duty of care to the child victims, and had to mark the gravity of the crime by sending Ajie to jail.

Maximum sentence

Judge Kelleher had said that the court would only accept jurisdiction on the case in the event of a guilty plea. If Ms Ajie had not pleaded guilty, she would have been sent forward for trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The maximum sentence in such cases at District Court level is 12 months.