A CONVICTED child sex offender has been sent back to jail after being caught attempting to meet and abuse a child.
Max Coughlin was jailed for six years at Guildford Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Following a trial in February, the 29-year-old, from Redhill, was found guilty of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence having already pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
Coughlin had been known to police due to a prior conviction in 2014 for making and distributing indecent images of children.
Max Coughlin has been jailedFollowing his release from prison for those offences, he was subject to the sexual offences registration requirements for ten years and had a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which placed tight restrictions on him, including having no contact with children.
In October 2021 officers from Surrey Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) searched Coughlin's home in Redhill after receiving reports that he was breaching his SHPO by using apps including Snapchat and then deleting them.
Some 15 devices were found at his home, including phones and laptops.
Coughlin was arrested for breaching his SHPO and facilitating the commission of a sexual offence after evidence showed he was making plans to meet a child for the purpose of sexually abusing them.
Having given no comment in his police interview, he later pleaded guilty to making indecent images but not guilty to facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
After a review hearing in March 2023, the case was set for trial in February of this year, where he was found guilty.
He was remanded in prison until his full sentencing this week where he was given seven years – a six year sentence with an extended licence for a further year.
The judge also ruled Coughlin would be subject to the sexual offences registration requirements indefinitely and have an an SHPO on him indefinitely.
“Once we received intelligence about Coughlin’s online activity, we took swift action to arrest him and seize his devices and the intended victim was never subject to any physical sexual offence,” Detective Sergeant Ben Green, from Surrey Police’s POLIT Team, said:
“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.”
“I would like to thank officers and staff not only in POLIT, but in the digital forensic and offender management teams, who have all worked together to achieve this result.
"This is a clear demonstration of our policing response to the ever-present online threat posed by predators towards children.”
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