A FORMER RTÉ studio news director has been jailed for a year after pleading guilty to possessing child sex abuse images on his mobile phone.

A March sitting of Trim Circuit Court heard that six graphic images of teenage girls were found on the phone of 52-year-old Justin Greene when gardai seized equipment at his home in May 2022.

In a statement, RTÉ has said that the former employee “resigned unexpectedly in March 2024″ and “gave no stated reason” at the time of the resignation. 

“RTÉ was completely unaware that Mr Greene faced charges or had been convicted and sentenced at a local circuit court until after they received his resignation,” the statement continued. 

The broadcaster added that is has not received any communication from An Garda Siochana on this matter. 

During the sentence hearing on 6 March, the court heard the defendant had co-operated with gardai when the called to his house and gave them lists of emails and passwords to facilitate their investigation.

His iPhone was the only device on which the material was found.

Judge John Martin was told the father of two had downloaded the material in November and December 2021 and thought he had deleted all the images in January 2022.

A defence barrister told the court the offending had taken place over a three month period at a difficult time in his client’s life.

The lawyer added that the defendant who had invested heavily in a career path that was now at an end was “absolutely ashamed and remorseful” and had sought counselling following his arrest.

Judge John Martin noted the images had not been accidentally saved on the phone but the defendant had “actively sought out and saved them”

Judge Martin said that sentencing was not an act of vengence but an act of justice that must contain an element of punishment and rehabitation.

Remarking that there were no victim impact statements in the case the judge said that child pornography legislation existed for the defence of innocent defenceless victims.

Noting that a probation report had assessed the defendant at moderate risk of re-offending Judge Martin reduced a headline sentence of two years in jail to one of eighteen months.

The judge suspended the final six months on condition the defendant co-operate fully with the probation service and attend at courses and counselling recommended by the service during the entire period of his sentence.

The defendant cried as sentence was passed and was told by Judge Martin he was now subject to the sex offenders register.

In its statement, RTÉ said that Green did not have an allocated RTÉ phone. 

“RTÉ maintain the highest standards of digital safety and security in our operations. In an effort to safeguard our employees and ensure compliance with legal standards, RTÉ implement advanced firewall filtering technologies across all networks and digital infrastructure.”

- With reporting by Rónán Duffy