DANIEL O'BRIEN, WIGAN MAN, JAILED FOR ALMOST 40,000 INDECENT CHILD IMAGES
Daniel O'Brien, aged 38 and residing in Wigan, has been sentenced to prison after being found in possession of nearly 40,000 indecent images of children.His arrest followed a paedophile sting operation where he was caught contacting an undercover officer.
O'Brien appeared at Bolton Crown Court on Friday, February 25, where he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and distributing indecent images of minors.
Prosecutor Timothy Ashmole revealed that O'Brien’s crimes were uncovered after he engaged in online conversations with an undercover officer from the National Crime Agency on Wickr, a secure messaging platform owned by Amazon Web Services, in March 2020.
The officer, posing as a single mother named Holly with two daughters aged six and eight, initiated contact.
O'Brien, who used the username Monkeystew24, quickly made sexual comments, stating that he wanted his then-two-year-old daughter to 'play' with his genitals when she was older.
He also expressed a desire to perform sexual acts on 'Holly's' children, indicating an interest in both her and her daughters.
Their communications later moved to KiK messenger on April 11, 2020.
There, O'Brien explicitly requested photographs of the children for his own sexual gratification.
Despite this, O'Brien later told police that his actions were part of roleplay, believing that 'Holly' might be an adult man engaging in fantasies, and claimed he had no intention of harming a child.
Mr.
Ashmole stated that O'Brien had sent 21 sexual images, starting with pictures of children in lingerie and progressing to more explicit images depicting sexual abuse.
Authorities traced his online activities to a BT account at a home in Standish, where O'Brien shared the residence with his wife and two children.
During a police raid, O'Brien handed a phone to officers from beneath a pillowcase, remarking, 'I think you might want to see this, there's things on there you'll want to see.' Investigators recovered 18 electronic devices, including phones, laptops, and hard drives, from the property.
Four of these devices contained images of child abuse and even bestiality; O'Brien clarified these were not stored on devices used by his family.
Overall, police discovered approximately 40,000 indecent images and videos of children, with nearly 1,900 classified as category A—belonging to the most severe abuse category.
O'Brien admitted to developing a sexual interest in girls aged 14–15 around 2010 and acknowledged ongoing access to indecent material over the years.
Defense solicitor Paul Treble outlined that O'Brien had lost his relationship, his job as an adult social carer, and access to his children due to the legal actions.
Treble added that O'Brien was engaging with organizations like Stop It Now and Safer Lives, which aim to prevent sexual offenses against children.
Judge Tom Gilbart sentenced O'Brien to two years in prison for his crimes.
Addressing him in court, the judge stated, 'The number of images you distributed was small but you were responsible for their further dissemination.
The number of images you downloaded was significant, and the offending spanned a lengthy period.
You developed an attraction to teenage girls and discussed sexual fantasies involving children in chatrooms.
An immediate custodial sentence is the only appropriate punishment.' O'Brien was thus sentenced to two years imprisonment, placed on the sex offenders register for ten years, banned from working with children or vulnerable adults, and issued a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.
