A Coupar Angus man who tried to have child sex abuse image charges against him dismissed by claiming police botched their search of his home has avoided prison.
Graham Taylor was caught with nearly 40 minutes of footage featuring girls as young as 12 on his phone.
When officers raided his property in George Street, he handed over his mobile and told them: “It’s all down to me. Some stuff online. You’ll only find anything on my phone.”
Lawyers for the 55-year-old tried to get the case thrown out by arguing police did not follow procedure when they turned up at his house.
They said officers made Taylor’s wife phone him at work and tell him to return home, without giving away details of their investigation.
Taylor pled guilty following a trial within a trial – testing a piece of evidence separately – at Perth Sheriff Court, in which police officers confirmed they had phoned Taylor, not his wife.
He returned to the dock on Monday for sentencing.
Shame-faced and out-of-work
His lawyer said: “He is overwhelmed by shame and he has spent time reflecting on his actions.”
The court heard Graham had progressed well on a rehabilitation programme for sex offenders called Stop It Now.
“Throughout the course of this process he has started to realise the impact on the victims,” the solicitor said.
“And he accepts that this is not a victimless crime.”
He added: “He has been impacted greatly by this process and it’s not one he wants to repeat.
“Clearly, custody will be an option for the court but I would suggest an alternative to custody would be appropriate.”
First offender Taylor lost his job following his conviction.
Not victimless
Sheriff James Hastie told him: “You have taken account of the offence in terms of realising that your behaviour is inappropriate and that there are victims in this case – although you didn’t realise that at the time.”
He added: “Behaviour such as yours creates demand for such imagery.”
Taylor said he had stopped viewing pornography entirely.
He was placed on supervision for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
He will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for two years.
The court heard the two videos recovered from Taylor’s phone featured girls aged between 12 and 15 in “erotic poses.”
The films, which run for a total of 36 minutes, were at the second highest level of the courts’ obscenity scale.
Taylor admitted charges of taking or permitting to take indecent photos of children at his home between March 11 and November 28 2020.
He pled guilty to a second charge of possessing the images.
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