Lochinver man who had obscene child porn photos released from jail
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A ferryman who downloaded thousands of indecent images of children has been released from custody subject to strict conditions.
Keith Williams (50), of Culag Gardens, Lochinver, previously appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court and admitted the offence, committed between July 1, 2016 and June 8, 2021, as well as breaching a bail condition by secretly having a mobile phone.
He also pleaded guilty to possessing an extreme image of bestiality involving a man and a dog.
Williams had more than 2500 videos and still images of young children and kept them on his computer and a storage device.
Of the 832 videos found on his devices, 561 were of the most graphic and obscene kind. Of the 1734 still images, 371 were of the highest category of depravity.
The images involved boys and girls aged between four years old and 13.
Sentence had been deferred for reports and Williams was remanded in custody in August.
However, when he appeared again in court via video link from HMP Inverness he admitted possessing hundreds more indecent images.
The court heard they were discovered after his landlord sent in people to clean his flat who found pornography that was of concern.
The police were called and his property was searched again – resulting in a further 1434 indecent images and seven videos being discovered.
Four of the videos were rated category A – the most severe. The majority of the images were rated category C.
They were obtained or viewed between April 2005 and May 2021, the court was told.
Addressing the new indictment, fiscal depute Martina Eastwood said: "Around 10.30am cleaners arrived at his home and when removing rubbish from the living room they discovered pornographic images which they thought may show under-age girls."
Defence agent David Patterson said his client "did not fully understand himself" why he had obtained the images but accepted his guilt. Mr Patterson added: "It does cause him concern."
He said his client had suffered repeated bouts of depression leading him to rely on "alcohol, cannabis and pornography, as a coping mechanism".
Williams was also described as a hoarder – alluding to why the second batch of images were not discovered initially.
Mr Patterson said: "Given the state of his house, his landlord has hired a professional cleaning company."
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said she took into account that Williams had been on remand for six months and that any custodial sentence she could impose would likely see him released shortly without any support.
Instead she chose to impose a community payback order with strict conditions on his release.
Williams must abide by the supervision of social workers, undertake a sex offenders rehabilitation programme and is subject to numerous conduct requirements.
These include staying away from children under the age of 18, registering all internet enabled devices with supervising officers, staying out of playgrounds and parks and not deleting his online search history, among other conditions.
These will be in effect for a three-year period and Williams was placed on the sex offenders register for the same period.
