A Peterhead man who served in the armed forces for 20 years was caught with sick child abuse videos during a raid on his home.
Police officers descended on Mark Spiller’s property at Viking Way in August last year.
While searching the address, they found a mobile phone belonging to Spiller.
An examination of a car parked outside that was insured in Spiller’s name further uncovered a laptop and a hard drive.
On the devices were large amounts of material containing the sexual abuse of children, Peterhead Sheriff Court was told.
105 hours of video footage recovered
Fiscal Ruairidh McAllister revealed details of the disturbing cache which included 31 of the most severe kind of indecent videos and one video that featured a teenage girl.
“In total 105 hours of video was found,” the prosecutor said, adding: “An internet history showed a search for ‘Lolita’.”
Spiller pled guilty to charges of possessing indecent images of children and of making photos of children between May and September 2023.
His defence solicitor Stuart Flowerdew told the court his client had joined the armed forces aged 16 for twenty years.
Now 41, he said his client had “sought out help” and was receiving counselling.
‘Your offending is not so bad that you would not be in jail for a lengthy time’
Sheriff Annella Cowan said the “nature” and “volume” of images had placed Spiller in danger of being jailed.
“On the other hand, you have mitigating factors running in your favour. Your offending is not so bad that you would not be in jail for a lengthy time,” the sheriff added.
She placed Spiller under supervision for three years and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, explaining: “This is a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Spiller was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years.
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