A depraved paedophile who said he "would love to kill a child" and "cannibalise" them was jailed for eight years in Ireland on Thursday. John Weber, 48, from Limerick, said he wanted to "kidnap torture and rape children", and he “invited others to travel” to a location to do this in “deeply disturbing” online chats with other paedophiles, said Judge Colin Daly.
Horrific material found on devices
Weber had 111 videos and images of child sex abuse, including very young children being raped, on an iPhone and iPad that police found in his home in 2024 and 2025, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard. Judge Daly said the “majority” of the videos and images were “Category A” material, meaning they were the most explicit on a scale of officially categorised child sex abuse material.
Weber, who was unmasked after Judge Daly lifted reporting restriction to name the sick paedophile, pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including one count of possession of child sex abuse material; four counts of distributing the material; and nine counts of producing the illegal material.
Online chats about snuff films and cannibalism
During court proceedings, it was said Weber also spoke to other paedophiles online about “snuff” movies, which are films that depict killings typically in the context of sexual violence. He told others in online chats that he lived next to a creche, and that he had stood on a balcony, with his penis exposed, while watching children below him.
The court heard material found on Weber's electronic devices included the rape of a six-month old baby, an 18-month old toddler, a violent rape of a six-year old girl, an eight-year old boy, and a five-year old child.
Communications and investigation
Weber communicated with other paedophiles on social media apps KIK and Snapchat, Session and TeleGuard. He used the anonymous web browser “Duck Duck” to communicate with other child predators to share images and videos and communicate about child sex abuse.
Judge Daly said the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, in the United States, made two referrals about Weber to Irish police, known as garda or gardai. This triggered an investigation led by Detective Garda James Muldowney, Divisional Protective Services Unit, (DPSU), Henry Street Garda Station, Limerick.
Previous statements and risk to children
Detective Garda Muldowney said Weber stated in online chats with others that he “would love to torture, rape and kill a child, and that he (Weber) has been so close a few times”. Weber also sent his therapist a video of a naked eight-year old boy and the counsellor immediately alerted gardai. Det Garda Muldowney described Weber as “an immediate threat” and “risk” to children and a “danger to the community”.
Weber told others in online chats: “Any age gets me hard, as long as they are smooth and pre-pubescent.” Weber claimed he had been sexually abused as a child and that he had been sexually assaulted while working as a sex worker in England.
HIV status and remorse
Weber told gardai he was HIV positive but that he was not taking prescribed medication to stop the spread of the virus to others and that he was having unprotected sexual intercourse with others. Weber stated in online chats: “You can help me find lads to infect today.”
Weber handed a letter of remorse to his barrister Liam Carroll BL who in turn shared it with the prosecution and the judge. Mr Carroll told the court that Weber's letter was “a further acknowledgment of his wrongdoing”. Weber told gardai he had been accessing child sex abuse material since 1997, when he was aged 19.
Judge's comments and sentencing
Judge Daly said the conversations between Weber and others online was “extremely serious” and the material found on Weber’s phone and iPad was “abhorrent” “depraved” and contained “extreme sexual violence on children”. Judge Daly said Weber's conversations with others may have also “incited” others to act out “violent and depraved” abuse of children.
Weber also spoke of young relatives in a “vile” way when discussing child sex abuse with others online. Judge Daly said Weber “sought out” child sex abuse material and shared it with “other paedophiles” and continued doing so a year after his house was first searched by gardai. A probation report concluded that Weber was of “higher than average risk of reoffending”, and that it appeared Weber was “indicative of someone who had become lost in his own depravity”.
Weber had a history of offending, and was also convicted previously for stealing from an organisation to which he had held a “senior position”, said the judge. The judge commended Det Garda Muldowney for the success of the garda investigation into Weber, as well as the professional and sensitive way Det Garda Muldowney had explained the background to the case in court. The judge reduced a headline sentence of 12 years to ten years with the final two years suspended.
