A Fort William charity volunteer has been unmasked as a paedophile after he was caught with more than 20,000 indecent images on his computer.
Alexander Farquhar was caught with 20,514 still images and 155 videos, which he admitted downloading to his computer between January 2010 and June 2020.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said had been “narrowly persuaded” not to jail the 65-year-old because he believed a sex offenders rehabilitation programme would help him appreciate “the depths” of his “depravity”.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told police received intelligence about Farquhar’s illegal activities in his Lundavra Road home and seized all his internet-enabled devices.
Of the 20,514 still images and 155 videos, the majority were in the lowest category of obscenity, which largely covers erotic posing without sexual activity.
‘Looking at indecent images of children is not a harmless hobby’
Sheriff Aitken criticised Farquhar for his attitude towards his offending as he seemed to lack understanding of the effect on the children.
Defence solicitor advocate Clare Russell said: “He is involved in charitable work in the local area but not involving children.
“He is not in a position to give a satisfactory explanation. He started looking at adult pornography and then went down a rabbit hole to this.
“He clearly requires the Moving Forward Making Changes programme (rehabilitation and education for sex offenders).”
Sheriff Aitken replied: “It is a very large number.”
He told Farquhar: “Sitting in your home looking at indecent images of children is not a harmless hobby.
“It involves making money out of you and perpetuating the catastrophic abuse of children.
“The programme may make you realise that the depths of your depravity is wrong.”
The sheriff told Farquhar that he could send him to prison for a long period but had been “narrowly persuaded” to place him on the Moving Forward Making Changes programme in the hope that it would make him realise the impact his offending has on children and stop him doing it.
He added that he may just come out of a prison sentence and carry on what he was doing.
Farquhar was sentenced to the maximum 300 hours of unpaid community work, and placed for three years under social work supervision and on the sex offenders register for the same period.
