Kosovo Veteran Jailed For Child Rape Pornography

A German national who had served in Kosovo has been jailed for three years following he discovery of pornography showing "the systematic rape of children".

Mario Steffen, aged 29, worked in a hotel in Cavan town as a chef, residing in Duleek, Co Meath. He pleaded guilty to the charges of having child pornography on June 25 2007 at his home in Templeroan Grove, Knocklyon.

Judge O'Donnell described the material Steffen downloaded as "pretty horrific" and said the offence was closer to the "upper end of the scale".

He noted that Steffen was sharing a house with two people at the time and complimented them for their "brave decision" in contacting gardaí when they saw what he had downloaded.

The judge said the housemates' conduct "was not the kind seen often enough from law abiding citizens".

The court heard child pornography was found on hundreds of CDs as well as 3,895 images and 1,544 movie files on Steffen's laptop and two hard drives after two of his housemates became suspicious of material on his computer and went to gardaí.

Steffen had trained as a chef in Germany before completing his military service in Kosovo where he had reportedly "seen some traumatic sights".

Steffen was arrested at his workplace and made immediate admissions. He told gardaí he had become interested in looking at the images in 2006 and had been the only person to use the seized computer.

(DW)