GORDON GRAY, SAILOR FROM ARDROSSAN, JUDGED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND COMMUNITY WATCH IN SCOTLAND

A sailor with a history of sexual offenses has been recently prohibited from entering parks and play areas after being caught hoarding child abuse images. Gordon Gray, who has served in the Merchant Navy for 19 years, amassed thousands of inappropriate files during Scotland’s first COVID-19 lockdown.

The court was informed that Gray, 37, downloaded and stored disturbing videos depicting toddlers being raped and young boys and babies being sexually assaulted. Police discovered nearly 5,000 files on an Asus laptop that was found on his bed at his Ardrossan home during an investigation.

The 4,779 files had been accumulated between February 15 and October 22, 2020, a period coinciding with Scotland’s strict lockdown measures from March 23 to May 29, 2020, aimed at curbing the coronavirus spread.

Gray appeared in Kilmarnock Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing, having earlier pleaded guilty to two charges: downloading indecent images of children and possessing illegal files, violations under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

Sheriff Murdo Mactaggart, noting that Gray might lose his employment and that he would be registered as a sex offender, chose to avoid a prison sentence. Instead, he ordered Gray to complete a three-year Community Payback Order supervised by social workers. Gray is also required to participate in the 'Moving Forward: Making Changes' program, designed to aid sex offenders' rehabilitation.

Furthermore, Gray has been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for three years, with additional restrictions imposed through a conduct requirement. This limits his unsupervised contact with individuals under 16 unless approved by his supervisor, and bars him from visiting parks or play areas where children are present unless permitted. His electronic device use will also be monitored.

He must provide his login details for email and social media accounts to supervising authorities to enable oversight.

Prosecutor Craig Wainwright explained that police obtained a search warrant based on intelligence, leading officers to Gray’s home, where he was alone. During the search, several devices were recovered, including the Asus laptop found on his bed, which was examined by the Cyber Crime team.

The investigation uncovered 3,161 indecent images and the download of 1,618 videos, although all these files had been deleted. Of the remaining 4,779 files, 986 were classified as Category A, depicting the most severe child abuse images. These included footage of a violent assault on an 18-month-old boy, sexual abuse of a baby, and a young boy exposing himself in a professional studio setting.