MAN WHO ADMITTED DOWNLOADING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY WILL NOT BE PUNISHED, AFTER APPEAL COURT JUDGES YESTERDAY REJECTED A PLEA BY PROSECUTORS TO HAVE HIS SENTENCE OVERTURNED
2014.A painter from the northeast of Scotland who confessed to downloading child pornography will face no penalty after an appeal court dismissed prosecutors' efforts to overturn his sentence.
Stanley Burgess received a complete discharge from Peterhead Sheriff Court despite being found with nearly 50 indecent images of children as young as six stored on his personal computer.
He claimed that the images were intended for artistic research rather than for sexual pleasure.
When questioned about the illicit material some depicting explicit acts between adults and minors he stated he saw no harm caused by his actions.
Yesterday, the Crown Office submitted the case to Edinburgh’s Court of Criminal Appeals, arguing that the 58-year-old from Fraserburgh should not have been granted an unconditional release.
However, the appeal was dismissed after Burgess’s legal representatives successfully argued that Sheriff James Hendry’s decision was appropriate.
Prosecutors argued that since Burgess’s case was deferred following his guilty plea, he was considered convicted and thus should not have received an absolute discharge.
The case stemmed from a police raid on Burgess’s home in Lochpots Road, prompted by a tip-off, which led to the seizure of computer equipment.
Burgess admitted to a charge of creating or allowing the creation of unsuitable images of children, covering the period from November 2008 to June 2012.
He maintained that he should not be penalized as the images were for studying light and shading, not for sexual gratification.
During the investigation, officers discovered 47 illegal files on Burgess’s hard drive, mainly at the lower end of the indecency scale, with some rated as level three.
His solicitor, Stuart Flowerdew, emphasized that Burgess’s computer contained thousands of other images related to nature and the environment, which were non-pornographic.
In sentencing, Sheriff Hendry remarked that the illegal images were like “needles in a haystack” and concluded that a full discharge was appropriate for Burgess.
