CHARLES STEVENSON, NAIRN, REPEATEDLY VIEWED INDECENT IMAGES AFTER PRISON RELEASE

In April 2019, a court heard that Charles Stevenson, a visually impaired man from Nairn, was found to have downloaded more indecent images of children after being released early from a 20-month prison sentence. Stevenson, who is registered blind, was on licence and subject to police monitoring following his earlier sentencing for possessing thousands of such images. When officers visited his home in Monetary Place, Nairn, on January 7 of that year, he admitted to having additional indecent images stored on his mobile phone. Stevenson, aged 39 at the time, had only been released on June 28 of the previous year.

Solicitor Neil Wilson explained to Inverness Sheriff Court that Stevenson "resisted those desires and urges for as long as possible, but he gave in to his ‘internal struggle,’ as he referred to it." Mr Wilson also commented that Stevenson is a socially isolated individual, though this isolation might have lessened had he not been denied a guide dog. Stevenson chose not to apply for bail at his initial court appearance and was subsequently recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his original sentence from September 2017.

Sheriff Margaret Neilson ordered new background reports before proceeding. After review, she decided against imprisoning Stevenson again, opting instead for a community punishment order. He was placed under three years of supervised social work and required to engage in a sex offenders’ programme. The sheriff told Stevenson, “Given the time you have spent in custody, the relatively small number of images involved, and your early plea, I am prepared to make a community payback order.” Additionally, Stevenson was re-placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Earlier, on February 7, police officers from the Police Scotland Offender Management Unit had visited Stevenson to carry out a routine assessment connected to his previous conviction. Depute fiscal Michelle Molley informed Sheriff Neilson that the officers spotted indecent images of children on a mobile phone provided willingly by Stevenson. He admitted that between December 9 of the previous year and January 5 of the current year, he had possessed these images at his residence and that he viewed them roughly once weekly, stating he struggled to control his urges. Stevenson acknowledged to police that he knew his actions were wrong.

The court was told that two of the images in his possession fell into the most extreme Category A, with 17 classified as Category B and 341 as Category C, alongside 45 pseudo-images of naked children.

In September 2017, Stevenson had previously been jailed for possessing and downloading a massive collection of indecent images. It was revealed that he, a charity worker who is blind, downloaded 40,539 images and 434 videos over a 14-year period, organizing them on various digital storage devices from April 2004 to July 2016. Sheriff David Sutherland emphasized the seriousness of these offenses, stating, “These are most serious offences and not victimless crimes.” He reduced Stevenson’s potential sentence from 30 months to 20 months after Stevenson showed immediate remorse and pleaded guilty following his arrest.

His lawyer, Neil Wilson, remarked that Stevenson’s actions, although criminal, stemmed from addiction linked to his disability and that he led a reclusive and unhappy life. Wilson added, “Creating a demand for this type of pornography means there has to be a supply and he now realises this.” He noted that Stevenson’s lifestyle was largely shaped by his degenerative eye condition, which is progressing towards total blindness, and that he posed a minimal risk of re-offending according to background reports.

Earlier police intelligence on December 6, 2016, had led to a raid on Stevenson’s home in Glenelg Gardens, Nairn. The authorities also learned that Stevenson had been cleared through the Disclosure Scotland process multiple times for work and volunteer roles. During police interviews, Stevenson admitted to becoming addicted to child pornography through internet use and chose not to answer certain questions about gratification. He confirmed that he favored images of females aged roughly 8 to 12 years.