THE case of a convicted sex-offender who accepts downloading 2500 images of children ranging from babies to teenagers is to proceed to crown court for trial.
William Mullan (42) from Rossorry Park, Enniskillen is charged with breaking a Sexual Offences Prevention Order by using an alias and having two mobile phones facilitating internet access which were not approved by his Designated Risk Manager.
He was further in possession, distributed and deleted indecent images of children, and communicated with children on Snapchat. Offending occurred in October 2023 but came to police attention in September 2024.
In September, police were informed he had downloaded an image of a child in the high classification of seriousness using an email address.
Mullan was arrested and handed over his phone. He “Spoke freely during interview, advising officers he is addicted to child pornography and since his release from prison purchased two phones intending to go online for this purpose. He created an alias username and set up a Snapchat account, thereafter engaging with children. He admitted sending a video at the request of one of his users.”
About six months after purchasing a phone he threw it into a lough as, “He was disgusted at what was on it and admitted it contained a lot of bad things.” However, a short time later Mullan purchased the second phone and accessed the Telegram App and through various channels downloaded thousands of indecent images from babies to teenagers. He would then delete these as he was “disgusted with himself but he repeated this around five times”.
Addressing the court directly, Mullan implored the judge to grant bail, insisting he could seek help as, “I really want to beat this habit. I’ll do courses. I’ll do anything.” But the judge replied, “The problem is your history does not fill me with any confidence.”
District Judge Alana McSorley listed a committal date for May 19 when it is expected Mullan will be returned for trial.
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