Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘People who access child porn should be jailed for their crimes’ PerverthAD4,212 imAges of ABuse PERvERtRt ALLOwED tO Child po porn pe KEEP HIS COMPutER deemed ‘low
PRESSURE is growing on the Scottish Government to “throw away the key” for people convicted of child pornography offences who “fuel an industry of child abuse”.
It comes after a number of offenders walked free from Dundee Sheriff Court — despite being convicted of possessing indecent images of children, some in the most explicit category — in the space of a week.
On March 15, 59-year-old Andrew Glenn, of Mains Road, avoided prison despite downloading more than 5,000 indecent images of children — and was even allowed to keep his computer.
Glenn told police officers that he had “never touched any young boys”.
He was ordered to attend the Tay Project programme for sex offenders and was placed under supervision on a community payback order for three years.
Three days later, David Eggleston, 54, of Seafield Road, was given a placed on a community payback order following his conviction.
Earlier this week, Stuart Grant, a former computer teacher at St Francis Primary School — formerly St Luke’s and St Matthew’s RC Primary – was allowed bail after admitting taking or making indecent images of children between 2008 and 2012, and possessing indecent images of children in 2011.
Grant, 33, of Almond Place, has not yet been sentenced.
Laurie Matthew, who founded Dundee-based charity 18 and Under, blasted the decision to allow the sex offenders to remain at liberty.
She said: “It is a crime against a child – that is a child in these images and videos and they are being abused.
“These people fuel an industry of child abuse and it is just as serious as physically abusing the kids themselves. Personally I don’t see any difference — they should throw away the key.
“It is all well and good putting them on a sex offenders register but they are still out and about.