July 2014
Convicted paedophile jailed again, this time for 100,000 child abuse images
A Keynsham man convicted of downloading more than 100,000 images of child sexual abuse has been jailed for three years.
Stephen Buchan formerly of Springfield Close in Twerton, Bath claimed he didn’t download the material found on a computer at the home he shared with his mother, saying he had no interest in porn and didn’t know how to download pictures from the internet.
But a jury of six men and six women took just over an hour to convict the 57-year-old, of St John’s Court, of seven charges of making indecent photographs of a child between 2003 and 2011.
The court heard he had convictions in the 1980s for indecent assault on a girl aged under 14 and having sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16.
The recorder Mr Atkinson QC told him: “The seriousness is that each image, still or moving, is a record of a sexual offence committed against a child. Children may well be adversely affected for the rest of their lives.”
Buchan was told to register as a sex offender indefinitely. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning him from having a device accessing the internet unless its history of use can be inspected by police at any time.
Bristol Crown Court heard Buchan had a total of 750,000 photos and videos on computer equipment.
The court was told his brother, Trevor Buchan, was jailed in November 2010 for offences related to indecent images of children and was released from prison in May last year.
Detective Constable Geoff Colvin told a jury he stopped checking after he had established that the haul included more than 100,000 “degrading” photos and 800 movies.
DC Colvin said: “There were in the region of three quarters of a million images. It was masses. In six years I’ve never had to go through such material. I categorised 110,000 indecent images and I had to say ‘that’s enough’ and I stopped.”
Police found 2,566 photos and 256 movies depicting child rape, as well as 228 photos and 25 movies involving sadism and animals.
Buchan told police the pictures had been collected by a group of men who visited his home – but declined to say who they were.
He told jurors that if he had revealed the men’s identities to the police, he would “not be here” to give evidence. Further police inquiries revealed some 30,000 indecent images of children found in a garage Buchan rented, which he admitted possessing.
Brendon Moorhouse, defending, said his client had had a “sea change in acceptance” regarding the latest images found, which negated the need for further police inquiries.
DC Colvin thanked members of the public who assisted police with evidence concerning Buchan’s lifestyle.
