Ross-shire sex offender downloaded hundreds of 'foul images' of children, sheriff told
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A 24-year-old Ross-shire chef has been placed under three years of social work supervision and has to participate in a sex offender's rehabilitation programme after admitting downloading a total of 685 indecent images of children.
Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald told Cameron Gray at Inverness Sheriff Court: "You were in possession of foul images of children being abused for your own pleasure and I can never fathom why."
Gray had previously pleaded guilty to downloading the material between June 19, 2021 and May 28, 2022 at his address at The Ordie, Newton, Fearn near Tain.
Subsequent to this offence being committed, the court heard that Gray had committed a similar offence. But because this offence pre-dated the second, he had to be treated as a first offender.
Sentence had been deferred for a background report and Sheriff Macdonald referred to it at sentencing.
She told Gray: "You come across in the report as being dishonest and I could send you to jail.
"But I think what will benefit you and the wider community is for you to be ordered to be under supervision for three years and take part in the Moving Forward Making Changes programme for sex offenders."
She also placed him on the Sex Offender's Register for three years.
At an earlier hearing, fiscal depute Emily Hood told the Sheriff that police carried out a search of the property on October 4, 2022 and recovered a mobile phone which was subsequently analysed.
Ms Hood said they were all inaccessible to anyone using the phone and involved girls aged between 2 and 14 years old. Many of them were in the highest explicit category.
