Exposed: Face of Irish stand-up comedian convicted of paying for 'horrific abuse' of kids

Eamon Goodfellow (50), with an address in St Albans in Hertfordshire but originally from Lurgan, Co. Armagh, 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 6-day trial.

Goodfellow, who has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in June 2018 and had all his electronic devices confiscated.

A number of recovered chat logs showed Goodfellow discussing the abuse of children with facilitators, who were based in the Philippines and Romania.

In the messages, he was shown to be actively seeking children under 13.

When a child of the correct age was identified, Goodfellow would direct the facilitators to perform certain sexual offences on the children and live-stream the sick acts.

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

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.”

Before his conviction, Goodfellow was a well-known figure on the comedy circuit and had appeared in the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Festival.

Goodfellow as a finalist in the 2019 Naty (New Act Of The Year) competition, and he worked for the UK's National Lottery operator Camelot as a day job until his crimes came to light.

Goodfellow as a finalist in the 2019 Naty (New Act Of The Year) competition, and he worked for National Lottery operator Camelot as a day job until his crimes came to light.