A Westmeath-based man caught with 10,000 images and 50 videos of child sexual abuse at his home after an online sting operation involving undercover British police has been jailed.
Electronic engineer Mark Barlow (61) formerly of Clonlost, Kilucan, Co Westmeath, was arrested following a series of online chats with an undercover police officer in Yorkshire about fantasies involving young girls and toddlers.
The ex-royal navy officer, from England but living in Ireland for several years, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998, at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Kenneth Connolly imposed a two-year prison term, saying that he had to take into account the nature and vast amount of material featuring young girls aged six to mid-teens, which he described as “nothing short of disgusting”.
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Divisional Protective Service Unit Det Gda Elizabeth Glennon told Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court that the father-of-three was identified as a suspect after an initial investigation by Yorkshire and Humberside Police and Europol.
Judge Connolly heard that Barlow had been a user called Dave, with a screen name “Wow, that’s tight” on an internet platform with indecent images of children.
From May 2nd to June 6th, 2023, he engaged with the undercover officer using the name Andrew. The officer purported to be a paedophile father sexually abusing his children.
Andrew emailed Barlow, “not many of us Brits on this site”, and invited the accused to correspond with him because they had similar interests. Barlow replied with a sexual comment.
The undercover officer referred to a girl named M.
The accused replied that they had similar tastes, and was glad Andrew could enjoy M, “as only a father can”. The undercover operative, Andrew, asked the accused what ages he was into, adding: “For me, it’s zero to 10.”
Barlow replied: “You have my age preference spot on.”
On May 18th, the accused emailed Andrew asking about abusing his baby and asked, “I wonder if it is sweeter when it’s your own?”
In a later exchange, the undercover officer asked if he had seen many girls out in the sun. The accused replied that it was a “rich hunting ground for little girls”.
The Internet Protocol (IP) number was traced to the accused’s home, where gardaí attended on September 29th, 2023, when they seized his laptop, tablet computers and phones.
Det Gda Glennon agreed that the accused was co-operative on arrest. During his interview, he apologised and said this activity started in early 2023 when he was away a lot for work and was bored. Questioned about the explicit conversations, he maintained they were “purely fantasy on his part”.
The court heard he had no prior convictions, that he worked in the tech sector after 15 years in the navy and supported his family financially. However, his marriage had broken down and he attributed his actions to depression due to financial and marital problems, excessive drinking, and loneliness from working overseas for lengthy periods.
A probation report described him as being at low risk of reoffending.
The email exchanges led to a child pornography production charge, which carries a 14-year sentence. For that, Judge Connolly imposed a sentence of two years and eight months, suspending the final 12 months.
He found the second charge of possession of child abuse material, punishable by five years’ imprisonment, to be more serious due to the number of images and videos.
Noting the mitigating factors, including his co-operation, remorse and guilty plea, the judge imposed a three-year term for that offence with the final year suspended.
He must be of good behaviour for three years post-release and avail of intensive counselling.
