Lurgan comedian convicted of paying for abuse of children in Philippines and Romania

Eamon Goodfellow, 50, who now lives in St Albans in England, is a former pupil of St Michael’s Grammar School in Lurgan.

He has been described as a stand up comedian and actor originally from Lurgan, Co Armagh.

He was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers on 14 June 2018 and all of his electronic devices were seized for analysis.

A spokesperson for the NCA said: “A number of chat logs were recovered which showed Goodfellow discussing the abuse of children with facilitators, one of whom was based in the Philippines and the other in Romania.

“In the chats, Goodfellow was shown to be actively seeking children under 13-years-old. When a child at the right age was identified, he would direct the facilitators to perform certain sexual acts on the children with a view to live-streaming the offending.

“Evidence showed that he sent payment to the facilitators to carry out the abuse.

“He was found guilty of two counts of attempting to cause the sexual exploitation of a child under 13 at St Albans Crown Court on April 12 following a six day trial.”

He will be sentenced at the same court on 31 May.

Martin Ludlow from the National Crime Agency said: “Goodfellow made it very clear that he has sexual interest in young children in these chat logs.

“He attempted to arrange for the most horrific abuse of vulnerable children thousands of miles away from him for his own gratification.

“He was helped by facilitators whose motive is to make money. This kind of financially-driven offending is a key threat to the UK.

“The NCA works with international law enforcement partners to safeguard children, identify and disrupt those willing to fund and carry out this abuse. In the Philippines the NCA has an excellent relationship and actively supports the work of the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre (PICACC).”

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