News / Prison term for child pornography charge
A LERWICK man has been sent to prison for over two years with an additional 20 months on licence for downloading nearly 50,000 images of children – many with sexually sadistic content.
Fifty seven year old David William Bruce, of Voderview, earlier admitted possessing photographs of children over a near 10-year period when police discovered the images on a multitude of computers, phones and memory cards at his home.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank told Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that 1,000 of the images and 12 videos were categorised at the most serious level and showed the sadistic abuse of young children and babies.
Bruce, who lives with his 90-year-old mother, downloaded the images between August 2008 and October 2017. His collection of indecent photos included 48,900 images and 56 videos which he had organised and categorised.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said that Bruce was remorseful and ashamed and as far as the worst images were concerned, he had difficulty accepting what he had done.
Bruce had no friends or hobbies and his life consisted of drinking alone and watching TV and the internet in his bedroom. There was no suggestion that he had passed any of the images on.
The sheriff said that Bruce was nonetheless responsible for creating a market for child sexual abuse. He sentenced Bruce to 28 months in prison with an extension period of 20 months when he will be released under licence. His equipment was forfeited and he will be placed under notification requirements for an indefinite period.
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