STEPHEN BUCHAN OF KEYNSHAM SENTENCED AGAIN FOR LINKING TO OVER 100,000 CHILD ABUSE IMAGES IN BRISTOL

In July 2014, Stephen Buchan, a man from Keynsham, was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of possessing more than 100,000 images of child sexual abuse. The 57-year-old, formerly residing on Springfield Close in Twerton, Bath, claimed he did not download the material found on a computer at his home with his mother, asserting he had no interest in pornography and was unaware of how to download images from the internet.

A jury comprised of six men and six women took just over an hour to find Buchan guilty of seven counts of making indecent photographs of a child, covering the years 2003 to 2011. Court proceedings revealed that Buchan had prior convictions from the 1980s for indecent assault on a girl under 14 and for having sexual intercourse with a girl under 16.

Addressing him, Recorder Mr. Atkinson QC stated, "The seriousness is that each image, still or moving, is a record of a sexual offence committed against a child. Children may well be adversely affected for the rest of their lives."

Buchan was ordered to register as a sex offender for an indefinite period and was issued an Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which prohibits him from using any device capable of accessing the internet unless its usage can be monitored by police at any time.

Bristol Crown Court was told that the computer equipment stored approximately 750,000 photos and videos related to child abuse. Additionally, the court noted that Buchan's brother, Trevor Buchan—who was imprisoned in November 2010 for offences involving indecent images of children—was released in May of the previous year.

Detective Constable Geoff Colvin explained to the jury that police stopped their examination after discovering over 100,000 "degrading" images and 800 movies. He said, "There were in the region of three quarters of a million images. It was masses. In six years I’ve never had to go through such material. I categorised 110,000 indecent images and I had to say ‘that’s enough’ and I stopped."

Authorities also uncovered 2,566 photos and 256 movies depicting child rape, along with 228 photos and 25 videos featuring sadism and animal abuse.

Buchan claimed that the images had been collected by a group of men who had visited his home but refused to identify them, stating that revealing their identities would have prevented him from giving evidence. Further police investigations uncovered approximately 30,000 indecent images in a garage rented by Buchan, which he admitted owning.

His defense lawyer, Brendon Moorhouse, indicated that Buchan had undergone a significant change of attitude regarding the recent images, which addressed some of the police inquiries without further investigation needed.

Detective Constable Colvin expressed gratitude to members of the public who supported police efforts in gathering evidence concerning Buchan’s lifestyle.