A Lewis man who downloaded 676 indecent photos of young children has been spared a jail sentence.
John Angus Macleod was been placed on the sex offenders’ register when he was sentenced at Stornoway Sheriff Court yesterday.
The 44-year-old of Lower Bayble, Lewis, previously pleaded guilty to the offence of downloading the images on one single occasion.
Sheriff David Sutherland instructed Macleod to carry out 120 hours of unpaid community service work within 12 months.
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In addition, he will be under supervision for until January 2021.
The Samsung laptop used to download the images has been forfeited.
Checks on his online browsing activity may be carried out anytime over the next two year’s after Macleod was ordered to make available to the police his computer, smartphone, or internet enabled device.
Yesterday, lawyer David Teale, said Macleod downloaded files but discovered the photos “were not as expected.”
He “immediately realised he had done wrong” and deleted the files right away.
Macleod was “remorseful” and lost his job over the incident, the court heard.
Procurator fiscal Karen Smith previously told the court the laptop was seized last June and a forensic scientist recovered the deleted images from the hard disc. They featured young females fully or partially clothed and in various poses with the main focus on their private parts.
“Some of whom would appear to be as young as eight years old,“ she said.
