A 35-year-old Leven man caught with indecent pictures and videos of children has been jailed for six months and put on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.
Darren Adam’s phone was seized by police during a search on March 3 last year.
It contained 23 accessible child abuse images – 22 category C and one category B – and two category C videos.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard previously the vile content showed girls between the ages of seven and 15 and a boy between 12 and 15.
Adam, of Coldstream Avenue, was also in possession of an extreme pornographic image depicting an adult female engaged in sexual activity with a dog.
He appeared in the dock from custody for sentencing on Friday.
Covid-19 excuse
Defence lawyer Aaron Thomson said his client, involuntarily, had been sent a link but accepts clicking on it “out of curiosity” and screenshotting the images.
Sheriff Timothy-Niven Smith pointed out Adam told the author of a background report he kept the images on the device as evidence to show police and was not able to report the matter due to Covid restrictions.
The sheriff highlighted the court heard previously the creation dates of the vile images were between May 22 2021 and September 21 2021.
He pointed out nearly six months had elapsed until March 3 2022, when police executed their search warrant and the images were found.
He said he had difficulty accepting Adam’s explanation for keeping the illegal material, given the last file creation date, and the accused had “ample opportunity” to disclose them to police if that was his true intention.
The sheriff added: “I do accept there was Covid but by then we were not in consistent lockdown”.
Mr Thomson maintained his client’s position is he was in the house as a result of Covid-19 but accepts he should not have had the images, regardless of his explanation.
Reason for image crackdown
Adam pled guilty to possessing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between May 22 2021 and March 3 2022 and possessing an extreme pornographic image depicting in an explicit and realistic sexual activity involving an animal on March 3 2022.
Sheriff Niven-Smith explained because of demand for such images, children in some countries are sold and subjected to horrific sexual abuse of the most demeaning and humiliating nature for people such as Adam’s enjoyment.
The sheriff said Adam has been subject to ten community-based orders in the past but repeatedly offends.
The court heard Adam also had a previous conviction of a sexual nature.
Sheriff Niven-Smith sentenced him to six months in prison, to run consecutively to an existing custodial sentence he is serving for assault.
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