A sex offender has been jailed after hiding a secret mobile phone inside a DVD player in his basement.
Philip Main had previously been handed a court order which banned him from owning devices capable of accessing the internet or taking pictures, but when the police learned he had bought a phone online, they confronted him.
The 38-year-old led officers down to his basements where he pulled a DVD player out from under a storage box, unscrewed and took it apart and revealed his phone.
And the officers also discovered an SD card in his bedroom containing indecent images of children.
Fiscal depute Felicity Merson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) had been imposed on Main in 2009.
The order contained various prohibitions, including that he not possess any computer or mobile phone capable of accessing the internet, or taking and storing photographs.
She said police inquiries revealed Main was the holder of an account at a shop specialising in buying, selling and exchanging tech such as phones, computers and cameras.
Investigations revealed Main had traded games for vouchers, which he then used to buy a Samsung Galaxy A51 online, a phone with internet capabilities and a camera.
It arrived on May 1 2021, and on May 11 Main returned a Samsung Galaxy A20 with internet and a camera to the shop to be assessed for buy-back. It had initially been purchased in January 2021.
Main ‘felt isolated during lockdown’
Police obtained search warrants and executed them around 9am on June 2 at Main’s Ashvale Place home.
Officers reminded Main of the SOPO conditions and asked him to hand over any devices which would breach them.
Mrs Merson said: “He agreed and led officers down to his secured storage room in the basement, where he retrieved the Samsung A51.
“It was hidden within a DVD player, which he had to unscrew and take apart to retrieve.
“The DVD player had been under a storage box.”
In interview, Main admitted owning both phones and explained he had “felt isolated during lockdown”.
Three micro SD cards were also discovered in Main’s bedroom, with indecent images of children being found on one.
The images and videos featured boys aged between 12 and 15 engaged in erotic posing and sexual activity with adults and each other.
In total, 11 images were found, 10 category C, the least serious, and one category B.
Meanwhile, 20 videos were found including three in category A, the most serious, 14 category B and three in category C.
Main was socially isolated
The videos had a total run time of just over two hours and 42 minutes.
Main, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, admitted three charges of breaching a SOPO, one for each mobile phone over the internet access, and another over the phones’ ability to take and store photographs.
He also admitted taking, permitting to be taken or making indecent images or pseudo-images of children between March 5 and June 1.
Defence agent Stuart Flowerdew said his client had co-operated fully with police from the earliest stages of the matter.
He added Main had developed a number of health problems including depression and anxiety, and was generally socially isolated.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin ordered Main to be jailed for two years and made him subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act for 10 years.
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