Borders porn obsessive spared jail for downloading hundreds of paedophilia, torture and bestiality images

That compulsion led to William Anderson accessing more extreme pornographic images as well as indecent pictures of children, Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told.

The self-employed fencer was spared a jail sentence after pleading guilty to three offences of downloading indecent images at his home in Glebe Road in Duns between June 2018 and May 2019.

Anderson was given a community payback order involving three years’ supervision with conduct requirements and 225 hours’ unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody.

He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for three years.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said: “He became obsessed with downloading and exploring pornography of all kinds and it led him to more extreme images.”

He added that the first offender had taken all available steps to address his problems.

Sheriff Nigel Morrison highlighted the number of pornographic images downloaded to devices belonging to Anderson, but the court was told that there were less than 1,000 in each of the three categories of indecent images resulting in prosecution.

Anderson pleaded guilty to having images depicting in an explicit and realistic way sexual contact between adults and animals, sexual contact between children and animals, extreme sexual violence, animal and human torture, mutilation of male and female genitalia, child rape and defecation.

He also admitted charges of possession of indecent photos of children and taking or permitting to be taken or making indecent photos of children at his home between June 2018 and May 2019.