A north-east man has been jailed after police caught him with almost 17 days’ worth of child sex abuse videos.
Jordan Gall, 27, was found in possession of nearly 7,000 indecent images of children and more than two weeks’ worth of video footage – most of which were in the worst category.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told that some of the video footage discovered on Gall’s mobile phone featured babies.
The total run time of the videos discovered was 16 days, 13 hours and 50 minutes.
The number of images and videos recovered by cybercrime police was more than 13,500.
Gall, who wore sunglasses in the dock, was told by a sheriff that due to the “sheer amount” of images and videos found, only a prison sentence was appropriate.
Fiscal depute Ruaraidh McAlister told the court during an earlier hearing that on November 30 2021 police sought a warrant to search Gall’s home after they had received intelligence that his devices may contain images of children.
Police executed the warrant on December 21 2021 and were allowed into the property by Gall who was home alone, Mr McAlister said.
More than 13,500 indecent images and videos found on Gall’s devices
He added: “Various electronic devices were found within the locus.
“The accused identified them as belonging to him and he provided passcodes for them.
“The devices underwent a preview examination by cybercrime officers and through this the officers identified that a mobile telephone belonging to the accused appeared to contain indecent images of children.”
Gall, of Provost Graham Avenue, Aberdeen, was arrested and taken into police custody.
A police cybercrime team later fully examined Gall’s mobile phone and found 2,631 Category A images, 1,375, Category B images and 2,946 images that were Category C.
Of the 6,592 videos found, 4,396 of those were in the most serious Category A, while 1,015 were considered Category B and 1,181 were Category C.
The videos and images found featured boys and girls of all ages, from babies up to 14 years old.
Gall pleaded guilty to one charge of taking or permitting to be taken or making indecent images of children.
He also admitted to a further charge of possessing indecent images of children.
‘Underlying issues’ being addressed
Defence agent Sian Grant told the court that Gall has “underlying issues” that he has been addressing.
She said her client was “in a relationship” with someone “who liked those types of things” at the time.
“In trying to keep the relationship going he thought he should get involved in these things – but that is not an excuse for his behaviour,” Ms Grant said.
“He has also been deemed suitable for a sex offenders’ programme.”
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told Gall: “This is a very, very serious matter given the sheer amount of material found.
“I wanted to get a psychological report to assess whether you may be considered suitable for a community disposal.
“However, I just come back to the sheer serious nature of this matter and it seems to me the only appropriate sentence in this case is a custodial one.”
Sheriff McLaughlin sentenced Gall to 12 months in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Not his first time in court
Gall previously appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in 2019 and admitted stalking a couple.
At one point he left a mannequin head with a knife stabbed into it outside their Rosemount home in a terrifying campaign of intimidation.
His victims – a man and woman who lived in the same block of flats – were left scared to leave their homes as a result of the sinister series of incidents.
Gall admitted to police he was sexually attracted to the man and jealous of the couple’s relationship.
The court was told he sent the couple anonymous abusive letters, turned off the electricity to their property, threw crockery from his upstairs window and wrote “RIP” outside their home.
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