Curiosity lead man to child abuse pictures

A SOUTHPORT man was caught with more than 500 pictures and videos of child abuse when police raided his home looking for his flatmate.

Anthony Scott Wild, 31, walked from Southport District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to download the offensive material.

Judge David Kent sentenced him to two years jail, wholly suspended, and two years probation for the videos and pictures, which featured boys aged eight to 14.

The images and videos were found by police during a raid on July 19, 2016, targeting Wild’s flatmate.

Wild told police he had downloaded the images out of curiosity. He found the images, of boys in sexual situations, through Google searches.

The court heard Wild recently told a psychologist he found the images “cute and refreshing” and was “drawn to it because of the naughtiness of it”.

Defence barrister Bernard Reilly, instructed by Allan Dick 888 Law, said Wild suffered from severe alcoholism which left him with nerve issues and balance problems.

He said Wild had been teased and bullied as a child and when he was a teenager became friends with people who all drank and used drugs.

Mr Reilly said Wild suffered from anxiety and depression.