Elgin man placed on Sex Offender’s Register for downloading child abuse images

A 70-year-old man who downloaded indecent child abuse images but insisted to police he had "no sexual interest in children" has been placed on the Sex Offender's Register for three years.

Graham Farquhar, of Kesson Court in Elgin, appeared for sentencing at Inverness Sheriff Court and admitted downloading a total of 40 still photos and one video which was of the most serious kind, in Category A.

The first offender was also sentenced by Sheriff Ian Cruickshank to remain under three years of social work supervision.

At a previous court case presided over by Sheriff Gary Aitken, fiscal depute Alison Young told the court that the video involved a one-minute runtime of a girl aged between 7 and 10 years old engaged in sexual activity with an adult.

He also had 18 stills of girls in erotic posing aged from eight to 12, she added.

They were all found on his mobile phone after police raided his property on June 7 last year.

Another 16 category C stills had been deleted, along with five category A and three in Category B.

Defence solicitor Grant Daglish told Sheriff Cruickshank: "He has no explanation why he had an interest in these images”.