A man has been found guilty of downloading hundreds of indecent videos of children – including some that featured newborn babies.
David Small, 25, was convicted of having more than 33 hours of child abuse footage hidden in a secret app on his Samsung Galaxy mobile phone after a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The jury heard Small was caught by police with more than 750 videos and upwards of 80 images of children.
It is understood some of the children featured in Small’s vile collection were as young as three months old.
He was also found with extreme pornography on the device that featured a woman engaged in bestiality with a dog.
It took a jury of eight men and seven women less than half an hour to convict Small on three charges that he downloaded the indecent content at an address in Rothiemay.
Unanimous verdict
Small, of Land Street, Keith, was found guilty by unanimous verdict on two charges of downloading and possessing indecent images and videos of children between July 1 2019 and January 21 2021.
He was found guilty by a majority verdict of possessing extreme pornographic images.
Following the verdict, Sheriff Andrew Miller told Small he had been found guilty of “very serious offences” and made him subject to the sex offenders register.
“Charges one and two involved a significant number of indecent images and videos of children,” he said.
“The downloading of which contributes to the worldwide demand for these images of child abuse.
“There is no doubt that you have been convicted of serious offences.”
During the trial, it was stated that Small had chatted to others using the online messaging app Kik where he was made aware of where the indecent material could be found.
Small then downloaded the images and videos using a file-sharing site.
David Small admitted indecent pics of children were on phone
Jurors were shown a police interview where Small admitted to police officers from the National Child Abuse Unit to having indecent content on his mobile phone.
“I know for a fact that there are pictures of children under 18,” he said.
Pressed by the officers about what kind of content was on the phone, Small said there was also “sexual abuse” material alongside images of “teens”, adding “I think it’s a mixture”.
Small then went on to claim that he had only used the file-sharing site because he was looking for girls aged “17, 18 or 19”.
“I did not intend to save anything younger than teenagers,” he said.
However, Small later admitted to the officers that he had used the file-sharing site for around six or seven months.
In his final speech to the jury, fiscal depute Darren Harty told them Small download the indecent images and videos and “thereafter moved them to a secure file that was locked – he even put a passcode on it”.
“He did this for his own gratification and only he had access,” Mr Harty said.
Sheriff Miller deferred sentence on Small until next month in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out.
He also requested Small be assessed to determine his suitability for a sex offenders programme.
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