Every indecent photograph of a child represents a young person being abused, the police officer in charge of child protection in Tayside has warned.
Detective Chief Inspector Iain Wales was speaking after former Arbroath Academy IT teacher Roger Moult appeared in court to admit possessing thousands of indecent pseudo-photographs or photographs of children.
Mr Wales, the head of Tayside Division’s public protection unit, said people must dispel any notion that the viewing, downloading and possession of such images are victimless offences.
“It is absurd for anyone to think there is no victim behind this type of behaviour,” he said. “Every image, every video we find…there is a victim on every single one, and it all comes down to supply and demand.
“Somewhere in the world there are people who are prepared to take and supply these images because there is a market for them. What we are doing is attempting to cut the demand.”
In the case of Moult, a search warrant was granted and the 64-year-old’s home was raided, leading to the discovery of a large number of child and bestiality images.
Mr Wales said: “Among the very first things that we do is assess whether there are any children that this person has access to.
“Have the images been downloaded, or have they been taken by the person concerned? Do they have access to children? Are any of the children in the images local children?”
In the Moult case and others uncovered in Tayside, it is understood the images had been downloaded and were not of local children.