Fermanagh sex offender returned for trial

A CONVICTED sex-offender who accepts downloading 2500 images of children ranging from babies to teenagers has been returned for trial.
Appearing for a committal hearing was William Mullan (43) from Rossorry Park, Enniskillen but remanded in custody since his arrest, who 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 is further accused of six counts of making indecent child images and four counts of distributing. There are also three counts each of possessing prohibited child images and extreme pornographic images. Offending allegedly occurred on various dates between October 2023 until August 2024.
Mullan spoke only to confirm his identity and that he understood the charges. He declined to call witnesses or give evidence on his own behalf at this stage in proceedings.
Judge McSorley remanded him in continuing custody to appear for arraignment at Dungannon Crown Court on 17 June. At the time of arrest a detective constable explained Mullan is a Category 1 Registered Sex Offender and subject to a SOPO due to previous offending.
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”.
Having been banned from Telegram, he changed his SIM card on two occasions. Objecting to bail the detective referenced Mullan’s previous relevant record and was given a Probation Order in 2008, and six months custody in 2022.
He added, “The seized phone contains around 2500 indecent images of children. Several of the SOPO conditions have been breached and admitted. If released on bail the defendant would be very difficult to monitor as he is unwilling to abide by conditions.”
A defence solicitor acknowledged the previous record was concerning but urged bail to be granted with very stringent conditions including a complete ban on internet usage.
The judge told Mullan, “The problem is your history does not fill me with any confidence. I believe you are a risk and bail is refused.”