Contractor downloaded child abuse images on hotel wifi as he travelled for work
13 Mar 2017 01:05 PM
A contractor who used hotel wi-fi to download child abuse images has been sentenced following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Alexander Paterson, 33, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence at Preston Crown Court recently.
He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sexual offenders register for ten years.
NCA officers arrested the construction worker in the car park of a hotel in Carnforth, Lancashire in May 2016.
The hotel was one of several whose wi-fi Paterson used to download indecent images of children.
The officers seized his Dell laptop from his bag and other computer equipment from his hotel room and home in Aviemore, Scotland.
Forensic examination revealed the laptop to contain hundreds of picture and videos of child abuse, many in the most serious category.
Paterson was convicted of three counts of possessing indecent images of children and a count of making indecent images of children.
Under the sexual harm prevention order he must declare future ownership of digital devices and online storage accounts and submit them to inspection on demand.
It was Paterson's second conviction for possession of indecent images of children. He was given a community payback order and placed on the sex offenders register for two years in 2014.