A north-east man has been placed on the sex offenders register after being found guilty of downloading more than 140,000 indecent images of children.
Jonathan Taylor was on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he faced two charges relating to activity on three devices in his home in Macduff.
And yesterday the jury of nine men and six women returned guilty verdicts to both.
The court heard during the course of the trial that police raided Taylor’s home on Gellymill Street last May.
A total of 99,986 pictures were recovered from a hard drive and a further 42,502 were found on a separate device.
Officers also found 37 videos containing indecent footage of children.
Cyber crime officer Ewan Stewart, who was tasked with looking at the contents, told the court the footage lasted for more than 16 hours and featured girls as young as five being abused.
Following yesterday’s verdict defence agent Bill Adam asked for his client to be released on bail ahead of sentencing.
He said: “He has been on bail under special conditions for a year and nothing has arisen during that time.
“He has lost his job offshore since these crimes came to light but he has been positive and set up his own business.
“He hopes to be able to put his affairs in order so there is business for him when he finally finishes with this matter.
“He has lived at his address for ten years and he is willing to adhere to any special conditions.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller agreed to the request.
He said to Taylor: “You have been convicted of two very serious charges.
“I will allow your bail to continue to allow for the preparation of a criminal justice social work report which will include a risk assessment.”
Sheriff Miller also ordered forfeiture of four devices belonging to Taylor.
The 40-year-old will return to court next month to be sentenced.
