Convicted Paedophile Imprisoned Again for Planning Child Sex Offence

A convicted paedophile, residing in Surrey, has been re-imprisoned following his arrangements to encounter a child with the intent of sexual abuse. Max Coughlin, 29, of Redhill, had previously been incarcerated in 2014 for the creation and dissemination of indecent images of children. In October 2021, subsequent to his release, law enforcement apprehended Coughlin for violating his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO); it was subsequently discovered that he had been attempting to arrange a meeting with a child. On Monday, at Guildford Crown Court, he received a sentence of six years in prison, including one year on licence, after being convicted of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. This followed his earlier guilty plea to charges of making indecent images of children. Intelligence was received by officers from Surrey Police’s paedophile online investigation team indicating that Coughlin was in violation of his SHPO through the use and subsequent deletion of applications such as Snapchat. Law enforcement confiscated 15 devices from him, comprising phones and laptops, all of which underwent thorough digital scrutiny. Coughlin’s arrest occurred due to his breach of his SHPO and for facilitating the commission of a sexual offence, as evidence demonstrated his intentions to arrange a meeting with a child for the purpose of sexual abuse. He entered a guilty plea regarding the creation of indecent images but maintained a not guilty plea concerning the facilitation of a child sex offence. Following a trial in February, he was found guilty. The presiding judge stated that, in addition to the custodial sentence, Coughlin would be indefinitely subject to the Sexual Offences registration requirements and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order would be imposed upon him. Det Sgt Ben Green commented: “It was clear in this case that Coughlin had been using various tactics to try to cover up his digital footprint and was prepared to continue lying in the face of the evidence.“The behaviour he was showing was predatory so I am extremely pleased with this outcome.” For updates, follow BBC Surrey on Facebook and X. Story ideas can be submitted to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp at 08081 002250. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.