April 2014
Paedophile claimed indecent images of children were ‘a joke’
A SEX offender has admitted having indecent images of children – claiming it was a “joke”.
Ian McDougall, 56, who was previously jailed in 2011 for 14 months for downloading thousands of indecent images, was being monitored by police because he was on the sex offenders’ register.
But he was caught out when a neighbour found a USB stick belonging to McDougall with 86 images.
McDougall appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted taking or permitting to be taken indecent images of children between January 27 and 31 this year.
Fiscal depute Anne MacDonald said the images were of girls between the age of 10 and 14.
Defence agent Liam McAllister described McDougall as a “very bright man and a very foolish man”.
Mr McAllister said there was a break down in relations between McDougall and the officers monitoring him.
He said: “In a bizarre turn he thought he would show the flaw in the thinking of the police officers, that there was nothing preventing him or any other individual accessing images on another person’s computer.”
Sheriff Graeme Napier deferred sentence on McDougall, described as a prisoner of HMP Grampian, until next month for a report.
