Court / Child pornographer awaits sentence
A MAN is awaiting sentence after admitting downloading over 300 indecent pictures and 16 videos including child pornography.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday that the offences came to light when police acting on “specific intelligence from the online child abuse prevention unit” searched his home in the town’s Westerloch Crescent.
James Adam Tait, 49, whose address was given as Frankfield Road, Dalgety Bay, had the images and videos on various devices.
Some were in folders that made finding the images harder for someone looking through the device, the court heard.
Tait admitted having indecent photographs of children between 15 March 2014 and 17 June 2019 and other pornographic images between 24 April 2016 and 25 June 2019.
Over half of the videos fell within the most serious category of child pornographic images, as did 21 of the stills images, the court heard.
There were also 199 “indicative” images of children posing in swimwear or sportswear.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank adjourned the hearing until 8 April for a criminal justice social enquiry report and ordered Tait to be placed on the sex offenders’ register and released on bail.
If you have been affected by crime, help is available. Whether you are victim, a witness, or the accused, you can find independent, impartial, and confidential support in Shetland.
For victims of general crime:
Victim Support Shetland
Phone: 01595744524 or 0800 1601985
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Email: VictimSupportHighlandsIslands@victimsupportsco.org.uk
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Space2face
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Shetland Women’s Aid
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Substance Use Recovery Service
Phone: 01595 743006
