ANDREW CONDIE OF HAMILTON FACES JAIL AFTER ADMITTING CHILD ABUSE IMAGE OFFENSES

In August 2012, Andrew Condie, a 36-year-old youth worker from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, faced the possibility of jail after admitting to possessing a large collection of child abuse images. Authorities discovered he had accumulated approximately 20,000 indecent photos of children. The police raid occurred in January this year, during which they seized two of his hard drives.

Condie was arrested as part of Operation Alba, a police initiative targeting internet-based child sex offenders. At Hamilton Sheriff Court, he pleaded guilty to charges related to having thousands of indecent images of young boys stored on his computer hardware. Fiscal depute Barry Dunne described Condie’s collection as highly organized within digital files.

Dunne also noted, "The accused was studying for a social work degree at university and was employed as a youth worker working with vulnerable children during the period the offences took place."

The investigation was prompted after Strathclyde Police received information indicating that the IP address associated with Condie’s computer was involved in downloading indecent photographs of children. Sheriff Ray Small postponed sentencing to allow for reports and ordered Condie to be registered on the Sex Offenders’ Register.