Courts / Dublin / Report
Serial offender gets more time in jail for sexual exploitation of girls
Summary
Matthew Horan, aged 27, was already serving a seven‑and‑a‑half‑year sentence for child sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography. In January 2017 Gardaí seized digital devices from his home, revealing further child porn and conversations with a 12‑year‑old girl. Horan had posed as a young girl on Snapchat, encouraging the 12‑year‑old to send explicit images and videos. He also used those images to impersonate a teenage girl and obtain explicit material from another girl aged between 11 and 13. Horan pleaded guilty to these additional offences, including sexual exploitation, production and distribution of child pornography. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced him to an extra three‑and‑a‑half years, consecutive to his existing term, but suspended the final two years of that period. The sentence reflects the new offences committed between 2014 and 2016. The court noted Horan's cooperation and the impact of his actions on the victims.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Serial offender gets more time in jail for sexual exploitation of girls. Charges or matters: a count each of sexually exploiting two girls within the State on dates between April 1 and November 23, 2014; two more counts of sexually exploiting a child and one count of distributing child porn on dates in 2015; possessing child porn at his address on July 11, 2015; three further counts of sexually exploiting female children through Snapchat and Instagram in the State on dates between May 21, 2015 and July 7, 2016; possessing child porn on a Sony mobile phone at his home on July 7, 2016. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- January 2018 Incident
- April 2014 Incident
- July 2016 Incident
- January 2017 Other
- September 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 21, 2017 Incident
- April 1 Incident
- November 23, 2014 Incident
- July 11, 2015 Incident
- May 21, 2015 Incident
- July 7, 2016 Incident
- 2019-12-19 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: a count each of sexually exploiting two girls within the State on dates between April 1 and November 23, 2014; two more counts of sexually exploiting a child and one count of distributing child porn on dates in 2015; possessing child porn at his address on July 11, 2015; three further counts of sexually exploiting female children through Snapchat and Instagram in the State on dates between May 21, 2015 and July 7, 2016; possessing child porn on a Sony mobile phone at his home on July 7, 2016 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Matthew Horan (27) of St John's Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin was jailed after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard he was caught in possession of thousands of child porn images and coerced young girls to send him sexually graphic pictures and videos of themselves between April 2014 and July 2016. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced him then to seven and half years in prison.
Places mentioned
- St John's Crescent
- Dublin
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- his phone at Clondalkin Garda Station
Topics
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