A video game artist caught with a stash of videos of children as young as three being raped was today spared jail.
Paul Simms – who formerly worked for a computer games firm in Dundee – had his house in the city raided by cops on September 28 last year.
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Police discovered Simms had wiped his laptop and reinstalled the operating system the day before officers attended.
But specialist forensic cyber crime officers were able to recover 149 indecent images and 10 sick videos with a total run time of almost four hours.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court: “Police found the operating system on the laptop had been re-installed the previous day which meant that items on the laptop, including the indecent images, had been deleted.
“However, analysts were able to recover the documents using specialist forensic software.”
She said the images depicted children as young as three being raped by adults.
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Simms, 35, of Scott Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to taking or making indecent images of children between May 12 and July 12 last year at his home address.
Defence solicitor George Donnelly said: “The items involved were viewed, moved then deleted.
“He has lost everything as a result of this – his house, his job, his partner and the respect of those who know him.
“He is described as being a low risk of reoffending and his capable of being assisted by the imposition of a community payback order.”
Sheriff Simon Collins QC imposed a community payback order with two years supervision and 300 hours of unpaid work.
He also imposed conduct requirements on Simms’ internet use and placed him on the sex offenders register for two years.
The sheriff said: “This was your first offence but it is plainly a serious one.
“You downloaded images on 12 occasions over a period of two months.
“I find your explanation for your actions implausible and provide no justification for your actions.”
