FRANCIS CASSIDY SENTENCED IN EDINBURGH FOR CHILD ABUSE IMAGE OFFENSES

In September 2009, a father from Dalkeith was convicted for using a fabricated astronomy website that was actually hosting child abuse images. Francis Cassidy, aged 48, downloaded over 400 images depicting pre-teen children being exploited, with 19 classified at the second-worst level of depravity according to police standards.

He was sentenced to community service at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after being deemed “low risk” to the public and his children. However, the sheriff issued a stern warning that Cassidy would face jail time if he ever viewed illegal pornography again.

Police investigations traced the site back to Cassidy’s computer and led to a raid on his Dalkeith home in February of the previous year. Authorities found and seized his computer after linking it to a visitor of the disturbing child pornography site.

Fiscal depute Ruth Ross Davie explained: “A police operation, alongside the child exploitation and online protection organization, identified a website masquerading as an astronomy site but infected with indecent images of children. Cassidy admitted owning the equipment and cooperated with police, acknowledging that he viewed certain websites containing what could be deemed illegal images.”

Cassidy’s defense lawyer, Stewart Carson, argued that the images were never intentionally saved: “He has no access to the images. He only viewed them on the website and never downloaded or saved them.

“The Children and Families team conducted an assessment and, in a precautionary approach, concluded he is of low risk to his children.

“He demonstrates an apparent understanding of the seriousness of his offending.”

Sheriff Derrick McIntyre ordered Cassidy to perform 160 hours of unpaid community service and to register as a sex offender for three years.

The sheriff emphasized: “You pled guilty to possessing indecent images of young teenagers in their pre-teens. But as I understand it, you did not download them; you merely viewed them.

“These crimes are not victimless. If people like you hadn’t viewed these images, perhaps they wouldn’t exist.

“You are prohibited from unsupervised internet access and from having unsupervised contact with females under 16.

“If you commit similar offences again, you face potential imprisonment.”