A teenager caught with images and video of sick child abuse had become “addicted to pornography” before accessing the material.
Calum Simpson, 18, downloaded and shared the “horrific images” of children,
including babies, being sexually abused.
He told police that he was not attracted to children but found the material “arousing ” due to the “taboo nature of the activity”.
He was spared jail at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting possessing and sharing the images.
First offender Simpson appeared for sentencing before Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald following the production of a presentencing report.
Police search found sick images
An earlier hearing had heard from fiscal depute Emily Hood, who told the court the images had been discovered when a search warrant was executed at Simpson’s home.
He initially denied to police that he had used Snapchat for his illegal activity, claiming his phone had been hacked.
But outwith the presence of his father, he then confessed: “I have got an addiction to pornography that’s really bad and I need help.”
The indecent images included 219 of the most serious kind and 121 videos, created between May 3, 2020 and June 26, 2024.
On June 24 and 25, he sent five videos to other users, one of which showed a baby being cruelly abused.
Other imagery included babies and children under the age of 12.
Image descriptions were ‘horrific and upsetting’
Sheriff MacDonald told Simpson, of Muirton Road, Tore: “My heart sinks when I see young people like you before the court with these types of offences. You are a very young man.
“Some of the images that have been described to me are horrific and upsetting to even hear being described.
“You need rehabilitation. You need to understand why society views these images as being so very wrong. If you don’t already understand that – I don’t know why you don’t – but you need some help.”
She placed Simpson on a community payback order with three years of social work supervision and a requirement that he participate in the Moving Forward 2 Change programme for sexual offenders.
She warned him that the sentence was a “direct alternative to custody” and said: “If you don’t do any small part, you can be called back before the court and a prison sentence imposed instead.”
The sheriff also placed Simpson on the sex offenders register for three years and granted a motion for the forfeiture of seized devices.