SIMON BLACK FROM CARDENDEN SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN EDINBURGH

In November 2010, Simon Black, a 37-year-old resident of Cardenden in Fife, was sentenced to a year in prison after being found guilty of possessing a significant collection of indecent images of children. The case emerged from an investigation into his activities on internet chat rooms, where Black and his ex-partner sought out like-minded couples for group sexual encounters.

Black, who used a pseudonym during online conversations, engaged in a chat with a woman from Derbyshire. The conversation took a disturbing turn when Black began discussing children in a sexual context. The woman, concerned about the nature of their exchange, reported the matter to the police. Following her report, authorities visited Black’s residence in the Sighthill area of Edinburgh, where they discovered a cache of illegal material on his computer.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Black pleaded guilty to charges of possessing 391 indecent photographs and four videos of children, with the material dating from January 2008 to August 2009. The prosecution, led by Depute Fiscal Gerard Drugan, highlighted that suspicions arose when the chat between Black and the woman, who used the alias Carole Storey, became increasingly paedophilic in nature. During their exchanges, Black referenced a fictitious baby daughter and described sexual acts involving her and the woman’s real-life son.

Mr. Drugan explained that the conversations were purely fictional, but the woman became alarmed when Black suggested sexual activity involving his imaginary daughter and her son. Black’s explicit descriptions of sexual conduct with the child prompted her to report the matter to the police. An investigation was launched, and the messages were traced back to Black’s computer.

When police executed a search warrant at Black’s home, they seized a computer, a laptop, and a diary. The diary contained references to additional paedophilic chats, and the electronic devices were examined for illegal images. Authorities recovered nearly 400 images and videos, including seven at the highest level of severity and four films. Among the most disturbing images was one depicting an adult male engaging in sexual activity with a young girl as young as three years old. Another image showed a child being urinated on. All the children depicted in the material ranged in age from three to eight years old.

During the court proceedings, Black’s defense attorney, Jennifer Cameron, acknowledged her client’s cooperation with police from the outset. She also noted that some of the images had been deleted before the police examination. Cameron explained that there was a classification system for the images, with the majority (294) being of the lowest level of severity. She emphasized that some images were inaccessible because they had been deleted.

Despite this, the court recognized the severity of the crimes. Sheriff Isabella McColl sentenced Black to 12 months in prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender indefinitely. She emphasized that these crimes are not victimless, as they involve real children suffering real harm. The sheriff pointed out the disturbing nature of the images, including those depicting a child being urinated on and an adult male engaging in penetrative sex with a girl as young as three, leaving no choice but to impose a custodial sentence.