'I want to kill by end of year': Limerick man's texts read in child pornography case

Barrister Liam Carroll, representing the man, said the accused estimates that he slept with over 2,500 men when he was a sex worker

Published 17th Jul 2026, 12:01 BST Limerick Courthouse on Mulgrave street | Iconic Barrister Liam Carroll, representing the man, said the accused estimates that he slept with over 2,500 men when he was a sex worker Sign up to our Limerick Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Limerick Live within your account.

This article contains material that some readers may find distressing.

“IN TEN years of experience, some of the videos were some of the most extreme child pornography that I have ever seen,” said a detective in evidence at a sentencing hearing before Limerick Circuit Court .

A man based in Limerick - who cannot be identified due to restrictions imposed by the court - has pleaded guilty to 13 charges for the production and distribution of child pornography, and one charge for the possession of child pornography. A summation of the evidence of the child pornography detailed that the man had child pornography of babies and toddlers.

Prosecuting Barrister John O’Sullivan said the child pornography “is not conventional” as it was shared in a written format through text messages on apps.

In the texts, the man wrote: “Most kids I wanna rape”, “I’d love to torture a child for days,” and “I love anyone who rapes kids” as well as a number of other messages of an extreme and graphic nature directed at children.

The man further texted “I want to kill by the end of the year”, “I always wanted to murder”, and “I wanna cannibalise a child”.

READ MORE: Water restrictions introduced in parts of Limerick

The accused, who is HIV positive, wrote: “They never ask my status. Not my problem”, and “Help me find lads to infect.”

The man wrote: “I’ve had a regular store of child pornography since the late 90s”, and “I know I’m highly toxic too”.

The court heard the man had sent four videos containing child pornography to another user on an app, which included a five-year-old in chains, dressed in fetish and bondage gear.

Two of the videos, Detective James Muldowney said, were “the most extreme videos I ever had to view” in ten years of work in the Divisional Protective Services Unit in Limerick.

Barrister O’Sullivan, putting forth the facts of the case with the detective, confirmed that the accused man has a crystal meth and GHB addiction.

The gardaí were alerted to the man’s activities by the man’s counsellor, who was sent child pornography by the accused man on WhatsApp.

The man’s address was searched by gardaí and his devices were seized on a date late in 2025. The accused man told Detective Muldowney: “Come back in another year and there will be another phone with it on it.”

When the man was arrested several days later, he informed gardaí that he had taken crystal meth, and he was deemed to be unfit to be interviewed for a period of six hours.

The accused man claimed he was sexually abused as a child, and said child pornography is a feature of his entire adult life, describing it as a compulsion.

READ MORE: Two men charged with the murder of Limerick father on St Patrick's Day

The man told the gardaí that his preference would be children of nine, 10, and 11 years of age.

Detective Muldowney told the court that the man used apps with the username BL25 - which the detective said stands for boy lover.

The detective told the court he would be particularly concerned by the risks posed by the accused to the general community and to children.

In a cross-examination, the accused man’s barrister put it to the detective that the accused’s texts were fantasy.

The detective said: “they are real videos of children being sexually abused, being violently sexually abused.”

“He knowingly distributed them to unknown parties,” the detective stated.

Barrister Liam Carroll, representing the accused man, said in mitigation that the accused man is HIV positive, and he estimates that he slept with over 2,500 men when he was a sex worker.

Mr Carroll said the accused said he has been harassed, gang raped, and engaged in chem sex.

The barrister said that this way of life left the accused open to blackmail.

He said the man “engaged in downloading child abuse material”, and “engaged in the production and distribution of text based child sexual abuse material”.

He said the accused man “is somebody who is damaged to some degree” and “suffering from a serious degree of sexual dysfunction”.

“He welcomed his arrest, he could not stop,“ the barrister said.

The accused man appeared in court via video link from custody.

Judge Colin Daly took the case into consideration, and adjourned it to a later date in July.