A former NHS Tayside worker caught with child abuse material including an image of a newborn baby has been sent to jail.
Scott Wallace downloaded a hoard of photos and videos over a four-and-a-half-year-period at his Dundee home and searched the internet using terms including “pre-teen hardcore”, a court heard.
The 33-year-old, who lost his job when the allegations came to light, was remanded in custody by a sheriff who described the case as “extremelydisturbing”.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard thatWallace, formerly an assistant technical officer who delivered drugs to wards which included children, told police who raided his home “curiosity got the better of me”.
Depute fiscal Vicki Bell said the child abuse material was found amongalmost a million images of adultpornography.
She said: “Some indecent images of children had been deleted or written over. The age range was newborn to 14 and included both male and femalechildren.
“One category B image was of anewborn baby with hospital name tags on the ankle and a clip on the umbilical cord.”
Miss Bell said other material included an image of a child aged between two and four being abused.
When arrested, Wallace told police he could not explain the images of infant children, saying: “Deep apologies,curiosity got the better of me.”
A total of 8,631 indecent images and 97 videos were recovered fromcomputer equipment found in Wallace’s house.
Wallace, of Symers Street, admitted possessing indecent images and videos of children between December 2009 and July 2014.
Nicola Brown, defending, said: “He has lost his job as a result. Around 0.56% of the footage found on his computers was illegal. He’s a man who wishes help and would co-operate fully with the preparation of reports.”
Sheriff George Way told Miss Brown: “These are extremely disturbingadmissions your client has made.
“I regret to say that until I am satisfied he is not a danger and can be dealt with in the community, Mr Wallace will be remanded in custody.”
Wallace will be sentenced on July 7. He was also placed on the sex offenders register.
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “This person no longer works for NHS Tayside.”