A newlywed paedophile whose marriage ended after just 13 days when he was arrested for possession of child abuse images has escaped a jail sentence.
John Gray was abandoned by his wife after police found the stash at his family home.
The 25-year-old was snared after bragging about abusing children during an online chat with another woman, who immediately contacted the police.
At Perth Sheriff Court on Monday, Gray was placed on the sex offenders register for three years and banned from contact with under-18s for the same period.
He is also prohibited from owning more than one computer or mobile phone and must inform a supervising officer if he uses any device which can connect to the internet.
Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said Gray’s online chat was “bravado” and he had not viewed any of the indecent images for some time before the police raided his home.
He said: “The images were few in number, he is a first offender and they don’t appear to have been accessed for quite some time. The conversation seems to have been bravado.”
However, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis reminded Gray that behind each of the images was an abused child.
He said: “You have to bear in mind there was no victim in charge one but charges two and three relate to images somewhere a child has been abused to create those images.”
Gray, 25, of Stanley, had admitted sending sexually explicit, grossly offensive and obscene messages to another woman in which he talked about abusing children between September 2 and 14, 2016.
He denied two further charges but was found guilty of downloading child abuse images between July 17 and November 22, 2014, and having illicit images between July 17, 2014 and November 3, 2016.
During Gray’s trial, the court heard from his wife, who revealed they had spent less than a fortnight together as man and wife before he was arrested.
Mum-of-seven Lisa Gray, 35, told the court she became involved in a relationship with Gray after meeting him through work and they decided to wed during 2016.
“We got married on October 22, 2016,” she said. “He was arrested on November 3 and from then on he has never returned to the property.
“The marriage is over. It lasted a week and a half or possibly two weeks. We haven’t lived together since he was arrested.”
Forensic examination of Gray’s online history revealed he had been discussing exchanging child abuse images and video with others while using Skype.
When police officers searched the computer’s hidden file locations they found three videos and 46 still images that gave them cause for concern.
