Joshua Boyle: Serial sex offender from Craigavon jailed over further charges
A Co Armagh sex offender, previously jailed over an online ‘sextortion’ plot, has been handed a further 12-month sentence for offending committed while on bail.
Jailing 23-year-old Joshua Boyle and ordering him to serve a further six months in jail and the same period on licence, Judge Patrick McGurgan said the guidelines were clear, that anyone who exploits children for their own sexual gratification, must face prison.
He told Craigavon Crown Court, it had often been repeated that indecent images and videos depict “the serious sexual abuse of children”.
"Those who access this material bear responsibility for the abuse by creating a market for the material, “ said the judge, adding that offenders such as Boyle “can properly be said to contribute to the pain, suffering a discomfort of children.”
Indeed, their trauma is made all the worse knowing that images of their torment will be looked at “for the perverted pleasure” of others.
At an earlier hearing, Boyle, from Carnreagh, Craigavon, entered guilty pleas to 11 of the 12 charges against him, committed between May 8, 2022 and May 11, 2023.
The bill of indictment includes single charges of attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to look at an image of a person engaged in a sexual activity, as well as nine counts of making indecent images of children.
Opening the case facts, based on a document written by prosecution counsel Joseph Murphy, Judge McGurgan told the court how the PSNI was contacted by colleagues in Essex who had created a fake profile, posing as a 13-year-old boy called Max.
Max’s profile had been contacted through Snapchat and other social media platforms by a profile which was ultimately traced back to Boyle.
The judge said despite being told Max was only 13, Boyle proceeded to engage the boy in sexualised chats and asking Max to send him images.
The court heard that during the course of exchanging messages, and despite knowing the ‘boy’ was only 13, Boyle sent three intimate images to Max.
Having traced the profile back to Boyle, PSNI officers went to arrest him and noted his bedroom matched the decor in images which had been sent to Max.
A number of devices were seized and Judge McGurgan outlined that when they were examined, officers uncovered 15 indecent images and 19 videos.
Of that imagery, there were six photographs and one video at level one, a category which depicts children being subjected to penetrative sexual acts, sadomasochism or bestiality.
Revealing that the single category A video was some six-and-a-half minutes long, the judge revealed it showed a boy being raped and a girl being forced to perform a sex act.
Judge McGurgan further revealed that some “52,934 files remained uncategorised”.
At the time of the detection, Boyle was being investigated for other offences including blackmail, having indecent images of children and sexual communication with a child.
Handed a two-year sentence in July 2023, the court heard how Boyle threatened an American teenager with exposure if he did not send him indecent images of himself.
In that case, Boyle entered guilty pleas to a total of 21 offences, committed between March 5, 2020 and May 5, 2021, including 13 charges of possessing indecent images of children, two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and single counts of making and distributing indecent images of a child and attempted intimidation.
The court heard how PSNI child internet protection unit officers, searched Boyle’s home on May 4, 2021 and seized two mobile phones which when examined, uncovered 44 files containing indecent images.
He had three photographs and 13 videos at Category A and horrifically, the court heard how two videos, lasting a total of six minutes, showed a toddler being raped by an adult male.
The court heard another vile video depicted a three to four-year-old boy performing a sex act while yet another showed a young teenage boy raping a boy of around 10.
During interviews, Boyle claimed he “had no idea” how the images came to be on his devices but denied having any sexual interest in children.
One of the phones was sent for further analysis and it was that detailed, forensic examination which revealed how Boyle had been engaged in a cross-Atlantic extortion and perverted chats with another young boy.
A 13-year-old boy had sent Boyle an explicit image of himself “at the defendant’s request,” and that was followed by an exchange of messages where Boyle told him how to masturbate, and told the boy he wanted to have sex with him and his brother.
Through social media, Boyle had also made contact with a 15-year-old boy in America and through video chat, Boyle had taken a screen shot of the teenager.
Using that screenshot, Boyle threatened that if the victim did not take part in further sexually explicit chats, he would expose him.
"The boy does not comply and there’s no evidence to suggest that the defendant followed through on the threat,” the court heard.
In court on Tuesday, November 18, Judge McGurgan said Boyle had committed further offending despite knowing he was already subject to police investigation.
The judge said, according to the pre-sentence report, Boyle was “confident” his iPhone was secure enough he would not be caught, a factor which indicated there was some planing to his offending.
It was also clear from reports, Judge McGurgan said, that Boyle was obsessed and preoccupied with sex.
Despite a plea in mitigation that Boyle had admitted his guilt, had successfully completed Probation rehabilitation programmes and that a sentence, “could be left hanging over his head, akin to the sword of Damocles,” Judge McGurgan ruled he had to be jailed.
Imposing a 12-month sentence, the judge ordered Boyle to spend half in jail and half under supervised licence conditions.
Boyle is already on the Sex Offenders Register for life and his Sexual Offences Prevention Order will run until 2030.