GRANGEMOUTH PAEDOPHILE JAILED FOR 18 MONTHS
An offender caught with nearly 11,000 pornographic pictures of children stored on his mobile phone and a desktop computer was jailed for 18 months today.Thomas Wotherspoon (37) was arrested after police from the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit raided his flat in Grangemouth and seized a number of devices, including the computer, which was on a table in the living room, and the mobile, which was in his pocket.
A total of 10,866 indecent photos of children were found on the two devices.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard more than 3060 of the image files recorded the "most vile" kind of abuse involving female babies and girls aged up to 12.
Videos of the similar sick activities were also found – six of them of the most serious kind.
The court heard the raid – on May 26 last year – happened after the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit was made aware the internet connection at Wotherspoon's flat, in Kingseat Avenue, Grangemouth, had been used to access indecent images of children on the internet.
Forensic analysts dated the child porn files as having been created on the two devices between March 1, 2018 and the day of the raid.
Wotherspoon pleaded guilty to possessing child porn.
Solicitor Virgil Crawford, defending, said Wotherspoon suffered from "low self esteem”.
Imposing the 18-month jail sentence, Sheriff Keith O'Mahony told Wotherspoon: "I'm aware of the fact that you are a first offender, nevertheless you were in possession of thousands of Class A indecent images which represent the most vile abuse of children." He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
