Department of Justice official appears in court charged with possessing child abuse material

He is also charged with possessing cannabis at the same location and date

• 05:30, 7 SEP 2023
• Updated06:30, 7 SEP 2023

An official in the Department of Justice has appeared in court charged with possessing child abuse material and cannabis.

Dublin Live has confirmed that Niall Colgan, who spent several years in the press office, was before a judge last month and is to make another appearance in under a fortnight. The 39-year-old is accused of possessing child abuse material at his home in Muckross Park, Perrystown.

He is charged under Section 6(1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998. That carries a maximum penalty at the district court level of a €1,904 fine and 12 months in prison.

If his alleged offence is sent to the higher, circuit court level the maximum sentence is a fine of €6,350 and five years in prison. Colgan declined to comment when Dublin Live called to his home yesterday. We have established he appeared in Dublin District Court on August 14.

He is charged with knowingly having in his possession child abuse material, legally known as child porn. He is charged with knowingly having in his possession two videos and eight images of alleged child abuse material.

The offence is alleged to have happened at his Dublin home on February 1, 2022. He is also charged with possessing cannabis at the same location and date.

That charge is contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act. He is charged with simple possession, not possession with intent to supply.

That carries a maximum penalty at the district court level of a fine of €1,270 and 12 months in prison. A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment last night. He said: “The Department does not comment on matters before the courts.”

Colgan is due back before Dublin District Court on September 21.