Paedophile fantasised about suspected local child and expressed ‘depraved’ wishes
A paedophile found with indecent images on his devices also fantasised about a suspected local child, a court heard.
Danny Conroy, 51, admitted possessing indecent images of children as young aged as nine when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court today (Wednesday).
The court heard Conroy, of Arheim, Lerwick, had named some of the images after a suspected local child he fantasised about.
Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said other images were given “taglines” saying “in fairly depraved terms” what he wanted to do sexually to the children.
The court heard police searched Conroy’s home on 5th April last year after receiving intelligence he was in possession of indecent images.
Officers found a mobile phone, computer tower and a bank of hard drives.
Preliminary examinations of the device indicated indecent images were present. Officers then seized the items to carry out a full “cybercrime analysis”.
Mr Mackenzie said 12 category C images – which is the lowest grading and may include sexually suggestive photos – were found.
However there were almost 12,000 more “inaccessible” images, meaning those that had been deleted.
A further 36,000 images were termed “indicative” – meaning “non-sexualised” pictures of children, such as from commercial sources or family albums.
Some of the images were duplicates, the court heard.
Mr MacKenzie said Conroy had data recovery software installed on his computer, suggesting he could have recovered the deleted files.
When interviewed by police, Mr MacKenzie said the accused admitted he “sometimes fantasised about children” but that he would never act on those fantasies.
He also conceded indecent images would be found “but not to the extent of the number recovered”.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had a “serious background” of difficulties he had faced throughout his life as a result of something that happened to him.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank deferred sentencing for the preparation of criminal justice social work and restriction of liberty reports.
He ordered the forfeiture of Conroy’s devices.
Conroy must comply with sexual offence notification requirements for a period of time to determined when he returns for sentencing.
