A trans-identified male who was convicted for the possession, production, and distribution of horrific child abuse materials has been released from prison early in Ireland, despite not being legally allowed to even be in the country.
Bruno Binda De Souza, who also uses the name Bruna Meirelles, was released from prison on October 26 after being caught with “thousands of depraved child abuse images.”
De Souza, 32, had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of child pornography, five counts of production of child pornography, and one count of distribution of child pornography on three dates between December 2017 and July 2020. The materials were found on all of his electronic devices, including his phones and computer.
As reported by Sunday World, during the trial, the court heard how De Souza was introduced to child abuse material by a former client while using the drug crystal meth.
After viewing it for the first time, De Souza reportedly became interested and downloaded significant amounts of the material. The court was told that De Souza began distributing sexual images of children via WhatsApp and Facebook, and had engaged in sexual conversations about children with other pedophiles on the internet.
His crimes were uncovered as part of an operation into child abuse material called Operation Ketch. Gardaí, Ireland’s national police force, were notified of De Souza’s activity by the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Guardaí then launched an investigation into De Souza and seized multiple devices.
On one phone, 2,464 illegal images were uncovered, with 752 images and videos being found on another phone. Additional evidence was uncovered on his MacBook.
Detective Garda Martin Allen told the court that some of the child abuse images found were “unique” in that Gardaí working the Cyber Crime division had not come across them before. Police often cross-reference child sexual exploitation images against catalogues of media that have been uncovered in the past in order to assist in the gathering of information of importance, including tracking distribution and locating victims.
De Souza, who is a Brazilian national, was based in Dublin at the time of his crimes and, during the criminal proceedings, his visa expired. He was expected to be deported upon his release, but has reportedly been allowed to freely leave Midlands Prison and enter the community.
Prior to his arrest, De Souza had been active as a prostitute in Ireland, charging 250 Euros per hour. Operating on Irish escort websites under the name “TS Pocahontas” since 2011, he earned thousands of Euros per week. His profile, which has since been removed, boasted of De Souza’s penis size.
Despite the horrendous nature of the materials De Souza was found with and distributed, presiding Judge Martin Nolan portrayed De Souza sympathetically.
“I don’t think she is a bad person but, she committed serious offenses and the court must punish her for her misbehavior,” Judge Nolan said, using feminine pronouns to refer to De Souza.
Judge Nolan also stated that De Souza had no previous convictions and had co-operated with the Gardaí in handing over passwords to his devices.
In 2020, Nolan sentenced De Souza to only three years in prison, but backdated it to when he was first placed in custody. His October 26 release indicates he was turned loose just 2 years into the sentence.
While in prison, De Souza had reportedly demanded a hairstylist or aesthetician be sent in to visit him, but his request was rejected.
Reduxx is a newly-launched independent source of pro-woman, pro-child safeguarding news and commentary. We’re 100% reader-funded! Support our mission by joining our Patreon, or consider making a one-time donation.
