Man had ‘horrific’ child abuse images

A man who downloaded indecent images of children has been told his abhorrent actions contributed to the “ongoing abuse of children in a quite horrific manner”.

Dawid Janowski had more than 1,000 indecent images of children on his devices, including videos featuring girls aged between one and 12 and pictures of girls aged between three and 15.

Some material was classified as category A – the most serious.

A sentencing hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Janowski, 37, denied being sexually attracted to children and claimed he had discovered the illegal material by following links in a chat room.

But his solicitor, Clare Russell, told the court: “He is someone who has accessed this material for a reason. He understands the underlying desires of why he has done it and is disgusted by that.”

Her client, of Obsdale Park, Alness, was deemed to be at low risk of sexual reoffending and had already taken steps independently to address his offending, which had taken place between June 17-21 2023 at his home.

Sheriff Sara Matheson told Janowski: “Your actions have contributed to the ongoing abuse of young children in a quite horrific manner – I take this matter extremely seriously.”

She ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Janowski also has restricted access to the internet, apps and social networking, and is banned from parks or playgrounds where children are likely to be without the permission of his supervising officer.

He will remain on the sex offenders register for three years.