David Masterson jailed for defilement and child pornography

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

David Masterson was jailed for seven and a half years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 20 December 2019 after pleading guilty to three defilement charges and possession and distribution of child pornography. The offences involved three underage girls and occurred between February and December 2016, while the pornography offences related to 14 November 2015.

Judge Martin Nolan refused to suspend any part of the sentence and backdated it to the date Masterson entered custody. The court heard that a search of his home uncovered 5,121 images, including 3,846 depicting adult men sexually abusing pre-teen children, along with 196 videos. Masterson had one previous conviction for a road traffic offence.