Smartphone ban for child porn executive

A SHERIFF has banned a former high-flying executive from owning a camera or smartphone, after he was discovered with a stash of child porn.

The sentence follows a social work blunder which prevented him from being sent to prison.

Alan Parker, 65, was also banned from using the internet, working with children, or having any unsupervised contact with children after the images were uncovered at his luxury villa.

Parker was caught with more than 4,500 indecent pictures in his home, including some at the most serious level recorded by experts and some featuring children as young as four. But Parker, who worked for a major organisation before retiring on health grounds, walked free from court because of the confused content of a social work report.

The social work report said an extended sentence should be imposed to protect the public - but also said Parker did not pose "imminent risk of serious harm to the community."

Sheriff Michael Fletcher said the contradiction meant that he was unable to impose an extended sentence, and therefore it was not appropriate to impose a prison term at all.

Instead, he placed Parker on probation for three years and ordered him to obey a long list of restrictions on his behaviour while he remains at large.

Parker, who lives in Balmoral Road, Blairgowrie, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register after he admitted to having 4,677 live and 163 recorded indecent images between 12 January 2008 and 27 April 2010.

He was ordered to undertake sex offenders group therapy, and avoid paid or voluntary work where he would have contact with under-16s.

He was also banned from owning computers, mobile phones, cameras or other equipment capable of taking, sending or receiving images.

Fiscal depute Alan Kempton said the police had carried out a raid on the four-bedroom house after being tipped-off about material contained on Parker's computing equipment.

Officers seized two computers and discovered thousands of images of young children, including some at level five, involving children being sado-masochistically being abused.

Mr Kempton said that, in addition to the computer stored images, some A4-sized photographs were also found, which appeared to have been printed from the internet.

David Holmes, defending, said: "He worked as a manager in a major organisation and was required to retire due to ill health. He has co-operated from the outset.

"There are a large number of images but 95 per cent of them are at level one. He has taken on board what he has done wrong and recognises that."

Sheriff Fletcher said that the current court guidelines advise that anyone caught with level five images should be sent to prison..