A man who exchanged “depraved” messages about child sexual abuse – and asked a contact to send him something “real young” – has been sent to prison for 15 months for downloading four indecent images of children.

Trey O’Riordan (39) was sentenced at the Royal Court after admitting to possessing four indecent images of children, including two videos that were said to belong to the most severe category. 

The Category A videos, which the court heard on Friday were downloaded in 2022, were followed by two further images found on his phone from 2023, which fell under Category B and Category C.

The court heard that O’Riordan, originally from Birmingham, had previously been convicted in 2011 for similar offences in the UK, where police discovered more than 200 indecent images on his laptop and USB stick.

Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, explained that he received a three-year community service order. 

After that conviction, he acted as a police informant, providing what the Crown Advocate described as “extremely valuable” intelligence that led to the arrest and prosecution of multiple offenders.

The Royal Court heard that despite claiming he had not viewed illegal images since his conviction in 2011, O’Riordan had continued to engage in “extremely concerning” sexually explicit discussions about children and babies over the messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp. 

Advocate Sette described the content of those conversations – though not the subject of any charge – as “depraved” and that they revealed a “serious and alarming” ongoing sexual interest in very young children.

“The content of those messages is so depraved that is does not bear rehearsing in great detail in open Court,” the Adocate said.

He continued: “In one of the conversations, the defendant received a Category A video on 21 May 2022 and a further video on the 6 June 2022.

“The second video was sent following the Defendant asking: ‘Any more videos of young”, followed by: ‘Send one real young’.”

O’Riordan was arrested in Jersey last year after Surrey Police uncovered the disturbing messages that were sent in 2022. 

At the time of his arrest, O’Riordan handed over two mobile phones and their PINs.

He initially denied knowing the UK-based man or possessing any indecent images, but in January, he asked to speak to officers and admitted both.

Advocate James Bell, defending, argued that O’Riordan had shown remorse, co-operated with police, and possessed “such a small quantity of items.”

He said the court should recognise “exceptional mitigation”, including the defendant’s work as a police informant between 2011 and 2012. 

During that period, the court heard that O’Riordan was also undergoing sex offender treatment and was told by UK police not to tell his probation officer about his covert role – something the defence argued had likely “considerably set him back” in his rehabilitation.

The court also heard that O’Riordan has no fixed address and suffers from alcohol and drug misuse. 

He completed a 12-week residential detox at Silkworth in 2022 and a community detox in 2023, but remains unemployed and without stable accommodation.

A risk assessment placed him in the high-risk category for reoffending.

While no evidence was found of him distributing the images of children, the court ruled that a non-custodial sentence was not appropriate, given the seriousness of the offences and his criminal history.

Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, presiding, said that although O’Riordan was not being sentenced for the content of his messages, they added important context and revealed the extent of his deviant sexual interest.

He said: “The images provided in the context of the conversation [with the UK man on WhatsApp] revealed you had a long-standing sexual interest in very young children.

“You are not being sentenced for the content of those conversations, which the Crown has rightly described as ‘depraved’.”

Delivering the sentence, Mr MacRae said the starting point of 36 months was reduced to 24 months to reflect his guilty plea. 

A further nine-month reduction was applied in recognition of his past co-operation with police, resulting in a total sentence of 15 months in prison.