An Angus paedophile who downloaded hundreds of sick child abuse files while he was still a school pupil has been handed an alternative to prison.
Fergus Barclay spent ten months making or taking vile material and was still an S6 pupil at Montrose Academy when officers executed an early morning raid at his former family home in MacKenzie Gardens in Brechin.
When Barclay last appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court, he admitted taking or making the indecent images between June 2020 and April 2021.
He returned to the dock to be sentenced following the completion of background reports.
Barclay’s solicitor said social workers had assessed his client as being a low risk of re-offending.
He added: “He has himself been engaged with an organisation called Stop It Now.”
Sentenced
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael placed Barclay under supervision for 18 months and on the Sex Offenders Register for the same amount of time.
He also granted forfeiture of Barclay’s phone.
The sheriff further imposed a string of conduct requirements, meaning Barclay cannot have any contact with known sex offenders or children 16 and under without prior approval.
He must also only live in accommodation and work in employment which is approved by his supervisor.
Barclay was also ordered not to use any encryption, incognito tabs or private browsing, not to clear his search history and to make his devices available for inspection on demand.
The sentence was imposed as a direct alternative to custody.
Sheriff Carmichael said: “Broadly speaking, I have to go along with the report – it makes sense.
“This is a serious offence.
“It was some time ago. I note that you were aged 17 or 18.
“It’s in the custodial zone because it’s a serious matter but there are alternatives here.”
Raided
The court previously heard police had received “confidential” intelligence filth had been accessed from Barclay’s home.
Officers arrived at around 8.30am on April 9 2021 and analysed the now-20-year-old’s Samsung Galaxy S10.
The device contained 329 accessible still images of child abuse.
43 of those images were categorised as the most graphic, with 59 identified as Category B and 227 as Category C.
Evidence of a further 1,367 inaccessible images and 28 inaccessible videos was also uncovered.
Creation dates on the sick files showed the oldest had been in existence since June 1 2020.
The most recent had been created less than a week before police seized the device.
When he was questioned by police, Barclay said: “On YouTube I was acting like a predator hunter trying to catch people out by pretending to be a younger age.”
The court heard Barclay, who now lives in Charleston Place in Montrose, has no previous convictions.
He pled not guilty to possessing “extreme porn” involving a female and a horse.
This was accepted by the Crown.
As he left court last time, Barclay hid behind paperwork he had been issued.
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