Edinburgh crime: Man caught with child abuse image collection banned from contact with children

Man caught with collection of child abuse videos banned from having contact with children

A man who was forced to flee his home after angry neighbours staged protests outside his home has been banned from having any contact with children under the age of 17.

Graham Brown was caught with a collection of child abuse videos depicting children being sexually assaulted by adults following a police raid on his home in Musselburgh, East Lothian, last year. After his arrest Brown, 61, moved into a new property in the town but was recently forced to move again after residents found out about his conviction and organised several protests outside his home.

Brown was back at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing on Monday after he had previously pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children between October 2020 and August last year. Sheriff Chris Dickson said Brown had committed “a serious offence” by downloading the images but accepted “the number of videos is limited”.

Graham Brown was caught with a collection of child abuse videos

Brown was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and under the supervision of his local social work team for two years. The sheriff also issued a conduct requirement where Brown is banned from having any contact with children under the age of 17 without prior approval and he also cannot possess any internet device without permission. He was also ordered to remain within his new home address in Bilston, Midlothian, between 7pm and 7am for the next 100 days.

Fiscal depute Callum Thomson told the court police raided Brown’s former home at Balcarres Road in Musselburgh at around 6.40pm on August 30 last year.

During the search officers discovered a laptop that held 14 sick child abuse videos including 11 rated at category A - the most depraved end of the scale - along with three at category B. All the images were said to have been accessible to the user and cyber crime analysis showed Brown had last viewed the videos on January 6 last year.

Mr Thomson told the court the content of the videos showed children engaged in solo masturbation and penetrative sex with adults and other children. Brown pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children between October 22, 2020 and August 30 last year.