JOURNALIST BUSTED OVER VILE KID PICS
Indecent images found on PC
A SHAMED journalist was yesterday accused of encouraging “a vile trade” by possessing and making indecent photographs of children.
Police received intelligence from a national child abuse prevention agency that Aberdeenshire-based writer Norman Harper had 31 indecent images of kids on his computer hard drive.
Officers swooped on his home near Alford and the shocking material was recovered from his seized computer equipment.
Harper, 60, a former features editor on the Aberdeen Press & Journal newspaper, appeared for sentencing at the city’s sheriff court yesterday, having admitted two charges at an earlier hearing. Defence solicitor Stuart Beveridge said that around the time in 2014 when the images were viewed by Harper, he had been dealing with “a number of crises” in his life.
He said it had led to what Harper described as “mental scramblement” but that he was not seeking to “hide behind” those excuses.
Harper is participating in the Stop It Now campaign run by a charity dedicated to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused. It offers support to those seeking help for “sexual thoughts about children and young people”.
Sheriff William Summers described the charges as “serious”. He told Harper: “This is not a victimless crime because every child that appears in those images is a victim of abuse. Everyone who views those images is encouraging a vile trade in the manufacture of those images.”
Sheriff Summers ordered Harper to carry out 180 hours unpaid work in the community and placed him under social work supervision for 18 months.
His name will also be added to the sex offenders’ register for 18 months.