TIMOTHY BATES FROM BANGOR AND LISBURN SENTENCED FOR REPEATED CHILD SEX OFFENCES

In April 2023, Timothy Bates, a known sex offender from Northern Ireland with connections to Bangor and Lisburn, was sentenced to a 12-month prison term after being convicted of multiple child sex offences. The court, presided over by Judge Patrick Lynch KC at Craigavon Crown Court, ordered that Bates serve half of his sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence, reflecting the severity of his repeated criminal behavior.

Earlier proceedings revealed that Bates, aged 47, had previously admitted to committing 11 child sex offences spanning from June 2016 to August 2017. These offences included possessing and distributing indecent images of children, attempting to communicate sexually with a minor, and inciting a child to engage in sexual activities. His criminal history is marked by a pattern of disturbing behavior that has had devastating consequences for his personal life.

It was disclosed during the hearing that Bates had lost his marriage and family following his 2017 imprisonment, which was related to images of child abuse. After serving his initial sentence, he moved to Lisburn, where he managed to secure employment and attempted to rebuild his life. However, his past actions caught up with him once again, leading to his latest conviction. Locals in Lisburn had previously driven him out of his home, and his reputation remains tarnished.

The latest case against Bates involved the discovery of further disturbing material. Prosecutor Joseph Murphy explained that at the time of the 2016 offences, Bates was on police bail after authorities uncovered 99 videos and images depicting children being raped and abused on his computer tower. This earlier case resulted in a five-month jail sentence handed down in February 2017. The recent offences came to light when police officers, conducting a routine check to ensure Bates was complying with a sexual offences prevention order, examined his devices.

During this investigation, officers found that parts of Bates’s internet history on an iPad were missing, prompting a detailed examination of the device. This review uncovered three indecent images and numerous chat logs in which Bates encouraged girls under 16 to engage in sexual activities and send him explicit images. The investigation also revealed that Bates had been involved in conversations with other sex offenders, sharing indecent images dating back to his initial bail period in 2016.

One particularly disturbing aspect of the evidence was a highly sexualized conversation with a 12-year-old girl. The chat logs showed Bates asking another young girl for pictures and exchanging multiple indecent images with two other offenders. In one exchange, Bates received an image of a 13-year-old girl but dismissed her as “too big for me lol.”

When questioned initially, Bates claimed he had not accessed any indecent material since his arrest in June 2015. However, upon confrontation with the evidence, he admitted to his guilt, stating, “I was sick and needed more help.”

Judge Lynch condemned Bates’s actions, emphasizing that rather than learning from his previous imprisonment, he continued to engage in illegal and harmful activities. The judge highlighted that Bates had already lost his marriage and family, and although he had managed to rebuild his life temporarily in Lisburn, his latest offences resulted in him losing his job and being expelled from his home by vigilantes.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Lynch imposed a seven-year sexual offences prevention order, which restricts Bates’s living arrangements, associations, and the use of electronic devices. Bates was also ordered to sign the police sex offenders register for a period of ten years, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities and compliance with the law.