An unrepentant paedophile who freely admitted hunting for sickening images of children being bound, gagged and held in cages has been placed on supervision.
Tesco supermarket customer advisor Callum McKay downloaded thousands of images of young children being subjected to horrific abuse.
McKay searched for the depraved images online by using graphic search terms relating to the abuse of children and toddlers.
Sentence had been deferred for background reports to be prepared.
‘Concerning comments’ in reports
Sheriff Mark Thorley told Dundee Sheriff Court it was clear from social work reports McKay had shown no remorse and no empathy for his victims.
He said: “There seems to be absolutely no remorse here whatsoever.
“There are some really concerning comments.
“These are just his views as I understand it.
“When I read the report my overwhelming concerns were the lack of remorse in terms of the victims of the offences, concern about his understanding of the offences and the lack of insight into his behaviour.
“You are at a high risk of reoffending and the downloading took place over a number of years.”
Solicitor David Duncan, defending, said: “It’s pretty unusual to see in a report anyone as openly as him saying they sought out this material.
“There is a level of honesty and insight.”
The sheriff placed McKay under supervision for three years and on the Sex Offenders Register for the same period.
McKay was also ordered to carry out 225 hours unpaid community work and was made subject to a conduct order severely restricting his access to and use of the internet.
Filth found in computer and phone
The Tesco employee was found with a haul of material which included more than 2,000 child abuse images and nearly two hours worth of graphic videos.
McKay, 24, of Nelson Street, Dundee, admitted downloading the cache at his home between March 12 2021 and May 6 2022.
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan told the court police became involved when they discovered someone at McKay’s home was sharing child abuse material with others online.
“In December 2021, police became aware that an IP address associated with the address was being used to upload indecent images to the internet.
“The accused was at home with his partner when the police arrived.
“A search commenced and a number of devices were seized.”
Mr Duncan said a computer tower contained 2,136 illegal images, with the vast majority of them categorised as the worst type.
Images were found on McKay’s mobile phone and the court was told that the accused had specifically been searching for images of toddlers and three-year-olds.
Video clips running for one hour and 56 minutes were recovered and featured children aged from infants to 15.
Mr Duncan said the material showed children “bound, gagged and caged.”
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