Nine months for paedophile with collection of sick images

Published 13 Jan 2010 13:23

A PAEDOPHILE who combed the Internet for images of children being sexually abused has been jailed for nine months.

Mark Buchanan (37), of Manse Road, Clackmannan, amassed a collection of 122 indecent images of children on his computer, including 12 showing girls as young as three being sexually abused.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that Buchanan had a history of unhealthy interest in young girls.

When he was 20 he was convicted of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a schoolgirl, who was aged 14 and 15 at the time.

Sentencing him to nine months imprisonment - plus three years' extended sentence during which he can be recalled to prison by Scottish Ministers if he reoffends - Sheriff Paul Arthurson said a social enquiry report had concluded Buchanan posed "a serious risk to children".

The sheriff said, "Your actions are an abhorrance to all right-thinking persons."

The Central Scotland Police computer crime unit raided Buchanan's former home in Arthurs Drive, Stenhousemuir, on 24 April 2008.

Various items of computer equipment, DVDs and phones were taken by police for examination.

Officers checking the equipment found 122 indecent images of children on a desktop computer. They were recovered in an unallocated space of computer. The children in the pictures ranged from three to seven years of age.

Searches

The search of the computer revealed internet search terms such as 'naked kids', 'majestic lolitas', and 'pre-teen schoolgirls' had been put in a web search engine by the user of the computer.

Police experts were of the opinion that the fact that there had been these specific expressions in the search engine was a clear indication of an intentional search for child pornography.

Buchanan pleaded guilty to downloading child porn.

His solicitor Laura Jackson said, "He tells me that his wife died in 2003 and at that time Mr Buchanan was left with full care of a daughter Chloe.

"Very tragically, Chloe contracted cancer and she died in April of 2008, I think about nine days approximately before this incident.

"After Chloe's death, he tells me that he got into a dreadful state and it's in the immediate aftermath of her death that the offence happened.

"He is a man who has had a very troubled life, through no fault of his own in relation to the tragic losses that he has had.

"He does come across as a man who is deeply ashamed of his conduct."

In addition to the jail sentence, Sheriff Arthurson ordered that Buchanan's computer equipment should be forfeited.

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