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Dunfermline sex offender who searched for ‘jailbait’ forced from home

Alan Cook appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
Alan Cook appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

A Dunfermline sex offender has been chased from his home after being snared sending naked photographs of his crush to her friend on Instagram.

Alan Cook previously admitted taking or making indecent photographs of children, distributing them and causing another person to view photos of a 15-year-old girl.

His vile stash was discovered by police searching after a tip-off.

At a sentencing hearing, the court heard Cook is in the process of moving to temporary accommodation, having been harassed about his conviction.

Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane placed him on the Sex Offenders Register and under supervision for three years.

She also added a string of strict conduct requirements and ordered Cook to complete the Moving Forward: Making Changes programme.

‘Utterly, utterly repulsive’

At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, he sheriff told him: “I don’t think I have to tell you how abhorrent your behaviour was.

“These videos you downloaded (were) utterly, utterly repulsive.

“The impact on the children cannot be expressed in words.

“You have already experienced, by the sounds of it, the repulsion that society holds.

“I’m not condoning anything that’s happened.

“You’re not going to go to prison Mr Cook.

“I hope not to see you again.”

His solicitor Chris Sneddon said both psychological and social work reports “point to a clear need for supervision.”

He said: “There’s been no concerns or issues since the petition.

“The offences were committed when he was aged between 14 and 17.”

Raid

The now 18-year-old had been speaking with a 15-year-old girl on Instagram messenger in April 2020 and the conversation had begun normally, the court heard in May.

Cook, who was 16 at the time, made it clear to the girl he knew her friend and had a crush on her.

However, the girl’s friend did not feel the same way about him.

Cook then sent the girl he had been speaking to nine photographs of her friend in various states of undress, including graphic images.

The recipient contacted police and officers obtained a search warrant.

When they attended at Cook’s home in Clunie Road, they seized an iPad and phones.

On the devices, police found Cook had been using search terms such as “14-year-olds” and “jailbait”.

Officers found a total of 172 indecent images of children and three videos on his devices.

Two of the videos and 36 of the images were deemed category A, the most serious, and depicted children from the ages of one to six years old being abused, including by adults.

Cook was found to have 72 category B images and one video, depicting children between the ages of two and five.

He also had 64 category C files, showing children between the ages of three and eight.

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