A man will be sentenced later this month after a Limerick court heard of how he talked about torturing, raping and killing children, and shared videos of a little girl being \u201cviolently raped\u201d while holding a teddy bear.<\/p>\n
The man aged in his 40s with an address in Limerick City cannot be named due to reporting restrictions to ensure the identity of \u201cinnocent\u201d people are not revealed.<\/p>\n
He appeared before Limerick Circuit Court via video link from prison.<\/p>\n
He is charged with 14 offences in relation to possession, production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, known in law as child pornography, contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998.<\/p>\n
The accused previously pleaded guilty to the offences. He was arrested and first charged in October 2025.<\/p>\n
Prosecution barrister John O\u2019Sullivan told the court the material found on the accused\u2019s devices is of the \u201cgrossest nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
Detective Garda James Muldowney, of the Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU), told the court the material contained on the devices was \u201csome of the most extreme” child sexual abuse material he has seen \u201cafter 10 years\u201d working there.<\/p>\n
In a summary of the man\u2019s offending, the court heard how he downloaded dozens of videos of a graphic nature, which were distributed to unnamed individuals on several apps, such as Snapchat, Sessions and TeleGuard.<\/p>\n
The court heard how the videos included one of a six-month-old baby being anally raped, and of a six-year-old girl being violently raped while holding a teddy bear.<\/p>\n
The court heard investigating garda\u00ed were told by the accused to \u201ccome back in another year, and there\u2019ll be another phone\u201d containing graphic images of children. It heard the accused sent messages describing how he would \u201cfind a little girl for you to rape\u201d.<\/p>\n
The accused also told other users online he can \u201cf*** any kid I can get alone\u201d, and that \u201cmost kids I see I want to rape\u201d. He also said there is \u201cnothing as good as a bleeding child\u201d and that he would \u201clove to torture a child\u201d.<\/p>\n
The court also heard how the accused is HIV positive and told garda\u00ed during interviews that he is not taking prescribed medication to stop the spread of the virus to others. The accused also told another online user: \u201cYou can help me find lads to infect today\u201d.<\/p>\n
The man also shared family photographs of young relatives, which were shared via online applications.<\/p>\n
A victim impact statement written by their mother was read in court. She said she was \u201cshocked and horrified\u201d when she received a call from the garda and that she \u201cfelt sick\u201d upon hearing the images were shared with \u201cpaedophiles\u201d on the \u201cdark web\u201d.<\/p>\n
The accused\u2019s barrister, Liam Carroll BL, said in mitigation that \u201cobviously the offences are serious\u201d but that these \u201ctype of offences could only happen in the context of someone having completely lost themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Carroll said there was \u201cno evidence of any hands-on\u201d offences, and that his client engaged in downloading and distributing the material. He also said there was no evidence his client \u201cacted out any of the violent fantasies\u201d he talked about.<\/p>\n
He added his client is a \u201cself-confessed sex addict\u201d and \u201csomebody who is damaged to some degree\u201d after having been sexually abused when he was a child.<\/p>\n
The court heard how the accused contracted HIV after becoming a sex worker in the UK, and having had relations with \u201cin excess of 2,500 men\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Carroll asked the judge for \u201cwhatever leniency you have\u201d. Judge Colin Daly said sentencing will take place on July 30.<\/p>\n