A convicted sex-offender who downloaded 2500 images of children ranging from babies to teenagers has admitted the latest set of charges against him.
William Mullan (43) from Rossorry Park, Enniskillen but remanded in custody since his arrest admitted breaching 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 admitted five counts of making indecent child images and four counts of distributing as well single counts of possessing prohibited child images and extreme pornographic images.
Offending occurred on various dates between October 2023 until August 2024.
Mullan appeared in the dock of Dungannon Crown Court speaking only to confirm his identity and entered pleas to each respective charge.
A defence barrister requested pre-sentence reports and advised he will be seeking to have Mullan psychiatrically assessed.
Judge Brian Sherrard agreed and remanded Mullan in continuing custody to appear for sentencing on a date to be fixed in September.
At the time of arrest a detective constable explained Mullan, a Category 1 Registered Sex Offender, is subject to a SOPO due to previous offending.
On 3 September 2024 police were informed he had downloaded an image of a child in the highest 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 for previous offending, 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 said Mullan a 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 on that day refused stating, “This is someone who admits he is addicted to child pornography. He will not stop. Telling him he is not to have access to the internet will do no good because he will breach.”
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. I believe you are a risk and bail is refused.”