A north-east man has been spared jail after being found with hundreds of pictures and videos of extreme child and animal pornography.
Philip Gill claims he was never attracted to youngsters but became interested in the taboo.
The 60-year-old father was said to have become “socially isolated” in his home and would enter his study, switch on his computer and enter a “fantasy” world where he spoke to other people online about the pornography.
Police received intelligence last year that his internet had been used to download indecent images and raided his home on Cairnlee Drive in Aberdeen on July 12.
Gill, who lives with his wife and 23-year-old daughter, said to officers “let me stop you there” and led them to his computer.
In total police recovered 385 images and videos from two laptops and a USB stick.
Of these, 227 were in the most serious category A, 46 were category B and 112 in the least severe group, category C.
The video footage lasted a total of 43 hours and 53 minutes.
The pornography contained adults abusing girls as young as two and engaged in sexual activity with dogs.
Gill, who admitted the charges which cover a period from March 2011 until July last year, appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing yesterday.
Defence agent Mike Munro said his client had cooperated with the police fully from the start.
He said: “My client became interested in the taboo of underage children.
“He spoke to other people online but at no point did he pretend to be a child.
“He became socially isolated at home and went into his room where he entered a fantasy world.
“He found the whole situation abhorrent.
“He cooperated with the police, he also told them about childhood demons he had not told anyone about which I will not repeat in open court.”
Sheriff Graeme Napier, in imposing a sentence, said: “You may have been looking at the pictures to go into a fantasy world but it is not a fantasy world for the children who were being abused.
“You have to understand that a custodial sentence is a consideration for me.
He added: “You will be given a community payback order for three years, put on the Moving Forward Making Changes programme and given a restriction of liberty order for four months.”