A Fife man who was caught with more than 200 indecent images of children aged between four and 15-years-old saw his crimes come to light in front of several family members.
Police visited Cameron Duncan’s address at around 7.35am on March 5 last year and found most of the occupants were still asleep – including Duncan and his partner who had been lying on a mattress in the dining room.
All of those in the house, including Duncan’s parents and siblings, were then gathered in one room and police told them they believed someone at the address had accessed indecent photos.
Forensic analysis of Duncan’s phone and tablet later revealed the presence of 59 still category A images, deemed the worst kind on the courts’ scale, 52 category B images and 94 category C images.
Appearing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Duncan, 19, of Henryson Road, Dunfermline, admitted taking, permitting to be taken, or making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children at his address between February 11 2020, and February 24 2020.
Depute fiscal Claire Bremner told the court how police acting on information provided to them visited the address and were allowed entry by one of the occupants.
The contents of the police’s search warrant were read over to them and they were all questioned.
Reference at one point was made to a Snapchat social media account, which Duncan’s partner recognised as belonging to Duncan.
An initial analysis of Duncan’s phone revealed 50 indecent images of children ranging from category A to C but a fuller scan at a later date highlighted 205 images, which were all inaccessible to the user.
Ms Bremner said the age range of the children involved varied from four to 15.
Defence solicitor Mark Harrower produced a letter from Duncan’s parents and medical records highlighting an autism diagnosis when his client was 17, which he asked the courts to take into account.
Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC deferred sentence on Duncan for the preparation of background reports until March 15 and Duncan was placed on the sex offenders’ register in the interim period.
