A sex offender freed early from a jail sentence for attacking a young girl took child abuse images with him to a meeting with social workers trying to rehabilitate him.
Andrew McLeod was handed a four-year extended jail term last year for a sickening sex attack on a five-year-old girl.
That sentence was to involve two years in custody and an additional two on licence.
He was automatically released after a year in prison – but within weeks had amassed a stash of child abuse images and videos on a mobile phone that had been returned to him by police.
McLeod is now serving out the rest of his original sentence – meaning he is locked up until at least January 2019 – and has now been handed a further year in prison.
Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court the offence came to light when McLeod told social workers he had been using a social media application on his phone to keep in touch with friends in America.
That prompted public protection officials to impose an extra condition on McLeod meaning he had to hand over his phone for inspection on demand by police.
She said: “On March 31 he attended at the criminal justice social work office for a pre-arranged meeting and signed to say he understood the new condition.
“Police asked to examine his phone and he handed it over. A cursory examination in his presence revealed indecent images of a child.”
McLeod, 39, a prison at HMP Perth, admitted a charge of downloading indecent images of children on March 31 this year at Friarfield House, Barrack Street.
Defence solicitor Paul Parker Smith said: “The number of images on the phone is fairly low but given he was on licence for a sexual offence it will be regarded as serious by the court.
“He has been recalled to custody and will be there for the foreseeable future.
“He expects nothing other than a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed McLeod for a year and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
He said: “What is disturbing about this case is that it is a symptom of a deeply rooted problem.”
