Former Royal Navy officer jailed for possession of child sex abuse material committed further offences while on bail

A former Royal Navy officer has pleaded guilty to introducing a child to pornography while he was on bail for possession of 10,000 images and 50 videos of child sex abuse material.

Mark Barlow (62), formerly of Clonlost, Killucan, County Westmeath, was jailed for two years in December after he was caught engaging in online, explicit chats with an undercover police officer, behaviour which he himself labelled “disgusting and abhorrent” at a previous court sitting.

Mr Barlow reappeared before Mullingar Circuit Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to fresh charges of possession of pornography, and introducing a child to pornography on dates between January 6 and 8, 2025, while he was on bail for the previous charges.

Addressing Judge Keenan Johnson at Mr Barlow’s arraignment, Stephen Byrne, BL requested a further probation report which may give “further supporting evidence that he’s unlikely to repeat this type of behaviour”.

“I only need a very short report because this is very comprehensive,” said Judge Johnson, referring to a report which had been furnished to the court for the previous sentence hearing in December.

“I’m a bit concerned about the assessment of him being at low risk of reoffending, considering he offended while he was on bail,” he added.

He adjourned the case to May 5, when an updated probation report is expected to be ready.

Mr Barlow, an Englishman and ex-Royal Navy officer, was previously caught engaging in explicit online conversations with an undercover police officer in Yorkshire, which ultimately led to convictions for possession and production of Child Sex Abuse Material (CSAM), and his imprisonment.

Those charges arose between May 2 and June 6, 2023 on an internet platform where Mr Barlow, under the name Dave, and with the screen name ‘wow that’s tight’, engaged with the undercover officer using the name ‘Andrew’, who purported to be a father who was sexually abusing his own children.

On the dates in question, he engaged in a number of explicit chats with ‘Andrew’ regarding his sexual fantasies of children and toddlers, and the sharing of indecent images of children.

Mr Barlow, when questioned in the witness box by his barrister said: “I’m terribly sorry. It’s not in my nature. I just made some really, really bad choices.

“I used porn as something to help me get through. It’s not a victimless crime and I can see that clearly now. It’s disgusting, it’s abhorrent and I should’ve never, ever,” he said.

Mr Byrne put it to him that “children are the most vulnerable victims and your actions not only support crime, but contribute to the demand for it”.

Judge Connolly noted the production charge involved the dissemination of content and said the possession charge will carry a heavier sentence due to the “sheer content”, which included 10,000 images and 50 videos of children as young as six years into their mid-teens displaying their genitals and engaging in sexual activity with males, including masturbation.

He proceeded to jail Mr Barlow for two years before making a destruction order for the images and videos as well as an order to wipe all devices that held them.

The fresh charges will come before the courts again in May, when he will be further sentenced.