A Cardenden paedophile “minimised the nature of his offending” after being caught with child abuse images.
William Kirk was found to have 15 category C photos which he had downloaded over a two-year period.
The 68-year-old has now been placed on the sex offenders register.
Solicitor Alan Davie, defending, said Kirk was “embarrassed and ashamed” to find himself before the court.
He said his client had difficulty in discussing the issues with strangers, and thus had failed to accept full culpability.
“He’s prepared to admit he had searched for these images,” the lawyer said.
“The search terms are for something specific.”
Ashamed
Mr Davie told the court: “It’s absolutely fair to say he’s taken steps to minimise the nature of his offending.
“The author of the social work report has suggested that’s because he doesn’t feel able to admit the type of material he’s actively sought.”
“He failed to understand his behaviour contributed to the trade of these images.”
He said Kirk was a first-time offender and the number of images was relatively small.
“The nature of this offence and the shame will have an impact and nip the offending in the bud,” he added.
Child ban
Kirk, of Woodend Park, admitted taking indecent images of children at his home address between October 2018 and October 2021.
Sheriff Alison Michie told Kirk he had pled guilty to a “very serious offence”.
She said she had considered the social work report and that Kirk had “reached the age of 68 without coming to the attention of the court”.
She placed him on a 12-month supervision order and banned him from having contact with children under the age of 16.
He is also banned from having any device capable of accessing the internet without permission, and from deleting data from any such device.
He was also placed on the sex offenders register for the same period.
