A dangerous sexual predator – with an IQ in the top 4% – “manipulated, coerced and blackmailed” teenage girls into sending him explicit images.
Max Hollingsbee (21) of Orient Circle, Lurgan was jailed on Friday after admitting scores of child sexual abuse crimes.
He had faced charges including inciting a child to take part in sexual activity, possessing indecent photographs and unauthorised access to computer material between 2021 and 2023.
Hollingsbee hacked some girls’ accounts to obtain images with the court hearing police had been unable to work out how he had managed to do this in some cases.
He previously pleaded guilty to 42 charges.
Some 14 victims, who were girls and young women from across the UK, have been identified.
During a sentencing hearing at Craigavon Crown Court, Judge Donna McColgan said Hollingsbee will spend 31 months in prison, and 31 months on licence.
With time spent on remand it is understood that Hollingsbee will be freed in November.
On Friday morning, Hollingsbee appeared in the dock dressed in a red polo shirt and jeans.
Sitting between two members of custody staff, he showed little expression during the hearing.
The court heard one of his victims described feeling petrified and crying in her bed during her ordeal.
Another said in a statement that she could not understand why someone would inflict what he did on another person.
Hollingsbee was aged between 17 and 19 when he used the so-called ‘catfish’ method to groom and coerce teenage girls into sending him indecent images.
He would typically befriend his victims on social media platforms including Wizz, Snapchat and Instagram, sometimes using fake profiles.
Once he gained their trust, he manipulated and threatened his victims into sending him more explicit images.
As well as targeting girls under 18, he also targeted one young woman who was over 18 and obtained images of her without permission.
Hollingsbee was first arrested by the PSNI in November 2022 after the alarm was raised by one of his victims.
He was arrested again in April 2023 and was found to have broken his bail conditions from the initial arrest, and also to have continued his offending.
The court heard Hollingsbee had been found to be extremely intelligent, with an IQ in the top 4% but, while he had had a contented childhood, he had been badly bullied as an adolescent and suffered from low self-esteem.
The court heard his offending was described as being due to an “addiction to power, control and sexual satisfaction”.
During sentencing, Judge McColgan said Hollingsbee will also to be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years, and will be on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.
Speaking afterwards, the head of the PPS Serious Crime Unit Catherine Kierans, said sexual offences committed against young people were “among the most heinous we see”.
“Max Hollingsbee used lies and deception to target and groom young victims for his own despicable ends,” she said.
“His offending showed a level of devious sophistication, using a variety of methods to obtain indecent images of his victims and exert control over them.
“Once Hollingsbee had gained their trust using lies and deception, he manipulated, coerced and in some cases blackmailed his victims into sending him explicit images of themselves.”
He also sometimes hacked into private areas of victims’ social media accounts to obtain indecent images of them.
In some cases he threatened he would send the girls’ private images to their contacts, causing great fear and distress.
“Young people deserve to be safe online and offline. However, we know that predators will go wherever children and young people are in order to target them,” Ms Kierans added.
“In this case some of the young women bravely raised the alarm about what Hollingsbee was doing. My message to young people is – if someone is demanding sexual images or videos of you, that is a crime and you are not to blame.”
Detective Inspector Chris Fleming from the PSNI Public Protection Branch said Hollingsbee was a child predator who was financially benefitting from his exploits and inflicted trauma.
Police are still working behind the scenes to identify more of his victims.
“People have an image of a paedophile in their minds, a ‘creepy’ old man hanging around play parks,” he said.
“The digital world has warped this and parents need to be aware that perpetrators are getting younger and more tech savvy.
“Not everyone your child speaks to online is who they say they are and they may have a sinister intent.
“Hollingsbee has caused serious and long-lasting harm on what we estimate to be around nine victims and their families.”