Caught with nearly 1000 images of child abuse
A man caught with nearly 1000 child abuse images claimed to police he was not sexually attracted to youngsters.
William Blakely said he’d been “stupid” to look at the disgusting photos while surfing the internet.
But he insisted that he had “never touched a child”.
Blakely, 28, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday and admitted downloading child abuse images at his home in George Street, Hamilton.
He a l s o a d m i t t e d possessing pornographic images that showed extreme violence being inflicted on adults and children.
Blakely downloaded the material between August 2019 and January this year.
Jennifer Mc L a re n , prosecuting, said Blakely’s mum answered the door to police officers armed with a search warrant at 7am on January 13. The accused was also present.
A computer tower unit belonging to Blakely was seized.
It contained 950 photos showing children being abused, including 192 in the most depraved category.
There were also six videos featuring child sexual exploitation as well as images of sexual violence being inflicted on adults and children.
Ms Mclaren told the court: “Blakely was arrested and replied ‘Sheer stupidity’.
“He told the police he shouldn’t have done it and he didn’t know what to say.
“He said he found the images by flicking through websites.
“He would do it maybe twice a month.
“Blakely said he would try not to do it but ended up going through websites.
“He claimed he was not sexually attracted to children and had never touched a child.”
Blakely, who has no previous convictions, has moved to a new address that was not disclosed in court.
Sheriff Thomas Millar called for a criminal justice social work report, electronic tagging assessment and risk assessment.
Sentence was deferred until November 6.
Blakely, who remains on bail, has been placed on the sex offenders’ register.