Latest Offenders Shetland

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A man from Shetland who possessed indecent pictures and videos of children has been placed under supervision for over two years and ordered to do unpaid work.

Alvar Foster, of Market Street, Lerwick, had admitted taking or permitting to be taken 88 images and 24 videos on a laptop between September 9 and 12, 2016.

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A MAN from Lerwick who got into a bed naked with a sleeping woman has been placed under supervision for three years and given 300 hours of unpaid work to complete.

Adam Wood, of Robertson Crescent, previously admitted a sexual assault charge which saw him get into the bed at an address in Lerwick without the womans knowledge or consent following a night out on 8 October last year.

Lerwick Sheriff Court previously heard that the 22 year old had gone to a flat where the woman was staying the night, after she had earlier rebuffed his attempt to kiss her in a night club.

Returning to the flat from the club shortly before 3am, the victim had left the door of the ground floor property open so that her female friend who lived there could get back in after she had been to a party.

On wakening the next morning, she had been shocked to find Wood, who had taken his clothes off, sleeping beside her and contacted her friend who had still not returned home.

After her friend returned and Wood was put out, the police were called. Wood continued to send remorseful messages to the complainer on social media.

The court had heard that there was no suggestion of sexual contact other than the victim becoming aware of Woods body hair when she awoke beside him.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court on Thursday, defence agent Tommy Allan said that the elephant in the room was the contact between the pair in the club, but he said there was no evidence of intentional, deliberate touching in the bed.

The solicitor added that alcohol and drugs had affected his clients memory of the incident.

Allan said that Wood fully realised the distress he would have caused the woman and had accepted responsibility.

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood said that he was persuaded by the smallest scintilla against sending Wood to prison as he had to be sure custody was the only option.

Instead, he gave the man a community payback order, with Wood also placed on the sex offenders register for three years.

He was also made to take part in the Moving Forward Making Changes project, a behavioural programme designed to provide treatment for men who commit sexual offences.

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A LERWICK man who had stored tens of thousands of indecent images of children on his computers will be sentenced early next month.

David William Bruce, of the towns Voderview, admitted a charge of taking or permitted to be taken indecent photographs of children over an almost ten year period between August 2008 and 25 October 2017.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Thursday that police officers had found almost 50,000 indecent images and videos stored on six laptops, 13 mobile phones and a further seven memory cards.

Of the 48,894 images, just over 1,000 were of the most extreme category involving very young children.

Procurator Duncan Mackenzie said some of the images found were of the very worst imaginable.

The fiscal told the court that a further 547,373 images found on Bruces computers were found to be borderline.

He went on to say that 57 year old Bruce had acquired significant expertise in finding and downloading these images, and had done so over a lengthy period and had organised the images in archives in a systematic fashion.

Mackenzie added that there was no suggestion that Bruce had shared the images with anybody else.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank deferred sentencing until 4 July to allow a criminal justice social work report to be prepared.

Bail was continued, and Bruce was put on the sex offenders register.

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A FORMER Shetland councillor convicted of the historical sexual abuse of two girls and a woman has been jailed for 18 months.

Robert Henderson, 74, a businessman and former independent councillor was convicted of historic sexual abuse on the island of Yell between 1974 and 1993.

His defence counsel David Moggach said: This has been for a man of his standing a quite spectacular fall from grace, especially in a small community where everyone knows each other.

At the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday judge Lord Kinclaven told Henderson: Your victims said they felt sick, embarrassed, shocked and annoyed.

The judge said that the most serious charge of rape, which brought the trial into the High Court, had been found not proven against Henderson, but said the remaining charges were serious and added: Ive given it very careful consideration and Im satisfied that there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.

The offences cover a significant period of time and the court requires to mark the seriousness of your offending.

Henderson, from Yell, Shetland, was placed on the sex offenders register.

The jury in the trial at the High Court in Aberdeen found the rape charge against Henderson not proven by a majority.

But, he was convicted of sexually abusing two woman, now aged 56 and 54, when they were children in the 1970s.

Hendersons first victim said it began when she was 11 and continued until she was 16. The second said it happened six or eight times at a conservative estimate, when she was aged between 12 and 14.

He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting one of his schoolgirl victims when she was an adult.

When the woman was aged between 29 and 31, he assaulted her by touching her breasts.

Henderson, who continues to maintain his innocence, was elected as a Shetland councillor in 2007 and 2012 as an independent before standing down at the last election.

Mr Moggach had urged Lord Kinclaven to impose a non-custodial sentence on Henderson saying he was assessed as a low risk of re-offending.

He added: He is a first offender and the last offence he was convicted of was in 1993. One of Mr Hendersons complainers said that this has not really had any effect on her as an adult and there isnt evidence of psychological or traumatic distress.

He is married and retired. He was a successful businessman and someone who did a great deal to benefit the local community.

His position remains the same, he does not accept he did this.

Lord Kinclaven was handed nine testimonials on Hendersons behalf.

As Henderson was led away to the cells to begin his sentence he showed no emotion.

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A 25-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for a string of disturbing sexual assaults, which included touching womens buttocks in public.

Desislav Branimov Ivanov, whose address was given as Grampian Prison, appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday. At an earlier hearing his address was given simply as Shetlands North Mainland.

Ivanov had previously pleaded guilty to eight charges of intentionally or recklessly sexually touching a number of women and a child between May and August this year. Sentencing was deferred at the time for background reports.

This week the court heard a narration of the charges from procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie, who said that Ivanov had engaged in a course of conduct redolent of a most unusual form of sexual fetishism.

Mr MacKenzie said that Ivanov appeared to achieve sexual gratification from surreptitiously touching unsuspecting females on the buttocks and from visually recording the contact on mobile phones.

Police examining material on two mobile phones and a laptop belonging to Ivanov found over 7,000 videos of concern over a period of three years, the fiscal said, adding that only a handful were taken in Shetland. The majority were taken abroad and fell outside of the jurisdiction of the court, Mr MacKenzie said.

Police first became involved after a woman was sexually assaulted on two separate occasions at the Brae Co-op supermarket. On 7th August Ivanov rubbed his hand across her buttocks, the charge states.

There was a distinct sense of disbelief, Mr MacKenzie said, and when the woman later reported the incident to her husband she was visually distressed.

At the same supermarket later that month Ivanov dropped his hat next to the same womans feet. As he crouched to retrieve his hat he then pressed his face against her buttocks while filming himself.

A member of staff and another shopper were alerted by her screams, Mr MacKenzie said, and police were informed. Officers seized CCTV footage of both incidents.

The fiscal added that there was no suggestion that the accused was following the complainer and that her twice ending up in the supermarket at the same time as him seems to have just been a coincidence.

After being identified in CCTV footage Ivanov was detained and interviewed by police, though he answered no comment to most questions. Police seized two mobile phones and a laptop and an initial search turned up 209 videos of concern.

Three of those videos were identified as having taken place in Shetland leading to a further three charges being brought against Ivanov, who was by then taken into custody where he remained after being refused bail.

This gave police more time to begin an onerous investigation which would eventually turn up over 7,000 videos of concern, Mr MacKenzie said.

Disturbing

Eight charges were eventually brought against Ivanov, including one involving touching a child aged between 13 and 16 on the buttocks. In another incident Ivanov was said to have placed his hand on the buttocks of a woman on a bus.

Mr MacKenzie said that the charges amounted to a disturbing course of conduct which was achieved with no concern for the distress that its caused the complainers.

In mitigation defence agent Tommy Allan said that Ivanovs behaviour was clearly very bizarre.

I dont have an explanation for it, he added.

In some of the cases its extremely fleeting, Mr Allan said, adding that the incidents did not progress towards groping or fondling and that some of the victims arent even aware of it. Nonetheless, his client had to accept that it caused distress to the complainers who were conscious of what had happened.

Ivanov appears to have some kind of compulsion, the defence agent added, noting that he had previously received psychological attention for an amphetamine addiction.

By way of punishment his client, whose parents live in Bulgaria, actually favoured the option of deportation Mr Allan said, also noting that Ivanov had already spent the equivalent of a six-month jail term in custody.

Sheriff Philip Mann said that if taken in isolation Ivanovs offences probably did not merit a custodial sentence for a first-time offender, but the total number of offences led him to favour a custodial sentence.

He said: When one considers that there are eight charges in total it paints a very disturbing picture of a course of offending which it is clear causes great distress and anxiety to those who are aware that they have been targeted in this way.

He sentenced Ivanov to two months in custody for each of the seven charges involving adult females and a further six months for the offence involving a child, running to a total of 20 months.

The time in prison will be backdated to when Ivanov first entered custody in August. The sheriff also granted a Crown motion for forfeiture of the two mobile phones and the laptop seized as part of the police investigation.

As for Ivanovs desire to be deported, that was a matter for the Home Office, Sheriff Mann said.

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A 20-year-old man who admitted carrying out a sexual assault on an underage girl has been placed under supervision for two years.

Asa Tulloch, of St Olaf Street, Lerwick admitted the offence during an earlier court appearance. His sentence was deferred at the time for background reports to be compiled.

The offence is said to have taken place at a play park and a multi-court between 1st June 2012 and 31st August 2013. Tulloch would have been aged either 15 or 16 and the complainer either nine or ten.

The charge against Tulloch states that he touched the girls genitals through her clothing, kissed her on the cheek and placed her hand down his trousers.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court this morning defence agent Tommy Allan referred to the background reports, which noted that Tulloch suffers from Fragile X Syndrome a condition which causes learning disabilities and cognitive impairment.

Mr Allan said that Tulloch had a level of need which led him to argue for his client to be dealt with by way of a community payback order.

Sheriff Philip Mann told Tulloch that the charge against him was a very serious offence.

They are charges for which the court could impose a custodial sentence, he said, before adding: But, in my view, its more important for society and for yourself that you have some guidance and support.

Tulloch was put under the supervision of social workers for two years and was placed on the sex offenders register for the same length of time.

He was also warned that the option of custody remained open should he fail to co-operate with social workers.

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Now of Lerwick Shetland, ZE1

A sex offender found with tens of thousands of indecent images of children is beginning a prison sentence of over four years.

Stephen Bell, 58, of Sandside Road, Mossbank, previously admitted having pornographic photos of youngsters. He intended the images to be distributed or shown to others.

Bell also confessed to taking, or permitting to be taken, indecent images of children. The offences happened between February 2011 and February last year.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard that Bell had been completely dedicated to pornography, and that he was incapable of recognising that every one of the children in the images in his possession was a victim.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie told the court: I dont think I can sit down without commenting on the fairly worrying response made by him in the social enquiry report. Its been well understood now that every single image such has been viewed here of a child contains an image of a victim. He seems incapable of appreciating that very basic truth, and that has to be a significant concern.

The fiscal described how he had felt compelled for the first time in Lerwick to seek a time bar extension to allow evidence to be examined after the offence had come to light.

He said police had executed a search warrant at Bells address. But it became clear the set-up was extremely complex, and almost unique in its complexity. He said the task of carrying out a forensic examination was extremely challenging.

Mr MacKenzie described how the search focused on six hard drives identified as containing most of the suspect material. A further 29 hard drives were also discovered.

The fiscal said tens of thousands of indecent images of children were found more than 5,000 of which were classed as being the most serious, or category A, type. Over 7,400 images belonged in category B, while more than 100,000 were category C.

He added children of all ages had been victimised by the crime. The images were predominantly of children aged between 10 and 16.

A search at Bells home uncovered a place in complete disarray, with only two main areas seeming to be habitable. Mr MacKenzie described towers of hard drives, pornographic magazines and DVDs.

This seems to be a man who is completely dedicated to pornography, and to child pornography in particular, Mr MacKenzie added.

He works full time but it appears that when work was finished for the day his life, almost to the exclusion of everything else, was dedicated to these horrific images.

Defence agent Tommy Allan agreed the nature of the images were abhorrent. He highlighted the social enquiry report which showed Bell as a something of a loner.

He worked, but the rest of his life was taken over by this obsession with this kind of pornography, Mr Allan said. It would be fair to say he allowed that obsession to get out of control.

The agent said there was a difference between the view Bell had about his offending and that which society would normally expect.

He accepts that at some point this would come to an end and he would be discovered, and he would have to face the consequences.

Mr Allan added that Bell had had the first opportunity to discuss his problems with social workers in the preparation of reports. But Bell knew he would be going to prison.

He knows he comes to court facing the inevitability of a custodial sentence, he said.

Sheriff Philip Mann sent Bell to prison for 52 months a total of four years and four months. But he will also have to serve a four month non-custodial extended sentence.

The sheriff also handed Bell a sexual offences prevention order, which will limit or monitor his use of the internet, for an indefinite period.

Bell was placed on the sex offenders register, also indefinitely. This is offending of the most serious kind, the sheriff told him.

Following the sentencing the senior police officer on the case highlighted the difficult and specialist nature of the investigations.

Detective Inspector Richard Baird said: This was an extremely complex investigation and Bells system has been described as one of the most intricate ever seen by the specialist computer forensic examiners who worked on the case.

Possessing indecent images is not a victimless crime and every day children are subjected to dreadful abuse in order to create these materials which are distributed around the world.

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A diver from Shetland has been found guilty of raping a drunken woman more than seven years ago in Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh.

Cy Sullivan, 26, who the court heard left his victim naked from the waist down and terrified and confused in the cemetery, was caught after his DNA was taken in October 2015 when he assaulted a bouncer.

His 42-year-old victim said: What has happened to me is a living nightmare.

In evidence, she described how she travelled from her home in the Highlands to attend a conference in Edinburgh and decided to visit the grave of Greyfriars Bobby.

The woman said she had at least eight glasses of wine and a police officer who saw her hours later at 5am described her as intoxicated.

At the High Court in Glasgow Sullivan denied rape and claimed he had consensual sex with the woman.

But after deliberating for two days the jury convicted Sullivan of raping the woman in the graveyard on November 27, 2009, when she was intoxicated and incapable of giving consent.

The court heard that the woman was spotted by two police officers. She was standing at railings inside the graveyard and appeared under the influence of alcohol.

She was taken to Gayfield police station and then examined by doctors and a DNA sample was taken.

The victim was asked by prosecutor Ian Wallace: Do you remember leaving Greyfriars pub.

She sobbed as she replied: No. I remember coming round in the graveyard and there was a police lady. I was frozen and I was disorientated. I tried for some time to find my way out. It was like something happened and I had just come round. It was awful. I just felt awful, embarrassed. I had no clothing on my bottom half.

The woman told the jurors that she had no memory of what happened after she left the pub until the police found her.

She was asked if she had any recollection of anyone having sex with her and replied: No.

Mr Wallace then said: Did you want to have sex with anyone that night. The victim replied: Definitely not.

The court heard that at the time there was no match to the DNA found on her body, but in October 2015 there was a hit on the database after Sullivan was arrested and charged with assault and his DNA was taken.

Sullivan told the court he had bought the woman a drink and then had sex with her. He claimed that she appeared fine to him and not drunk.

He appeared in court with crutches and a wheelchair and told the jury he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two weeks ago.

His defence counsel David Nicolson said: Just after Christmas he had trouble with his right eye and with his balance. On 12th May a diagnosis was made. He was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis.

Judge Rita Rae remanded Sullivan in custody and placed him on the sex offenders register.

She told him: Rape is one of the most serious charges we have to deal with in these courts and has long-lasting effects on women.

I am reading an impact statement from the victim and she says: What happened to me in a living nightmare.

It was obvious when she gave evidence she is still suffering.

Lady Rae deferred sentence until next month for background reports.

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An offender who sent indecent images of himself to girls under 16 through the social media site Snapchat has been spared a jail sentence.

Instead, Robert Shewan Groat, 26, of South Road, Lerwick, has been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after he appeared in the Lerwick dock for sentence.

Groat was handed the hours by Sheriff Philip Mann as part of an 18-month community payback order.

He will remain on the sex offenders register throughout the duration of the order.

Groat previously admitted sending the images to four girls.

He intentionally caused girls aged between 13 and 15 to look at a sexual image of himself naked or wearing only his underwear and pictures of his genitalia.

The incident happened between 1st July and 16th August 2014.

Groat also admitted causing a 16-year-old girl to look at a sexual image of himself wearing underwear, and with himself exposed between 1st and 31st August 2014.

The offending started after one of the girls added Groat to the social media site, which allows people to post pictures, to communicate with him about a rowing team he was starting up.

The incidents happened in Bressay and elsewhere in the isles.

Sentence had been deferred for reports, and Groat was warned that the court would be considering all sentencing options.

But Sheriff Mann was today persuaded Groat could be handed a community-based disposal.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Groat had co-operated fully with the court, adding it was clear from the start the matter would be resolved.

He said contact was made with the families of the complainers at a very early stage, and apologies had been tendered.

Mr Allan said Groat had been assessed as being at a low risk of re-offending.

He said Groat was immature for his years and had suffered from a very low mood because of what was going on in his life.

Hes really had to leave where he was living and try to find a new life. The stigma of his appearance in court for these offences is something he will have to work very hard to throw off.

The agent said Groat had accepted his responsibility for what had happened, and had pleaded at a very early stage.

Sheriff Mann told Groat: This was a very, very serious series of offending. It was quite unacceptable to subject these young girls to the photographs you sent to them via Snapchat. Its all the more serious because these girls contacted you for entirely innocent purposes. Whether you were intoxicated or not, you took advantage of that, so it is a serious matter.

However, the Sheriff said Groat was a first offender and, on that basis, could be sentenced without the imposition of a custodial sentence.

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AN apprentice mechanic was jailed for three years at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday after being convicted of having under-age sex with two teenage girls.

The court heard that 22-year-old Zai Vessey, from Shetland, already had a previous conviction for under-age sex and was on probation when he committed one of the offences.

Following a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen, Vessey was convicted of having unlawful sex with a 14-year-old girl at a house in Lerwick in 2010 and with a 15-year-old girl in Shetland in 2012.

He was cleared of asking the 14-year-old for naked pictures of her and of sending her naked pictures of himself, and of raping the 15-year-old.

Judge Johanna Johnston QC told Vessey: You have exploited these young women. One was 14 and the other girl was 15. You committed one of these offences when you had an analagous conviction and were on probation.

Had this been a case where you were very much older than these girls I would have taken a very different view.

Vessey, who had denied all the charges against him during his trial, was placed on the sex offenders register.

The court heard that he had sex with the 14-year-old when he was 17, and with the second girl when he was 19.

Solicitor advocate John Keenan said: My client has completed three years of a four year HGV mechanic apprenticeship. His former employer will allow him to complete his apprenticeship when he is released. He will have work available and will live with his family.

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A MAN from Mid Yell who admitted possessing child pornography videos of an extremely grave nature has been sent to jail for just over a year.

Sam Hesketh, of 6 Burra Park Road, previously admitted permitting indecent images of children to be taken between 3 May and 5 June 2015.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard in April that the police searched the 29-year-olds house after a national agency became concerned about his online activity.

A total of 14 videos containing abuse of young boys and girls were found, several of which were designated as category A.

Defence agent Tommy Allan told the court on Wednesday that his client had been struggling with integrating into his local community since news of the charges broke, as well as with dealing with his own mental health.

He said that while the offences were of an extremely grave nature, the quantity of videos wasnt as great as has been experienced in similar court cases in the past, which often involved thousands of pictures or clips.

Hesketh appreciates what he has done wrong and is prepared to address any underlying issues that led him into possessing the videos.

Sheriff Philip Mann said that while the videos were regarded as being at the top end of the scale in terms of severity, there were not a large number of them and that had to be taken into account.

However, every time a video is viewed, it is an abuse of the children involved and subsequently creates a demand for more images to be made.

Sheriff Mann decided to put Hesketh behind bars for 13 months and ordered for him to be placed him on licence for two years upon his release.

He also ordered the forfeiture of items taken by police during their search of the mans property.

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Alan Scollay had previously admitted a string of offences involving two primary school age girls.

The 58-year-old had been warned the case was so serious it may be referred to the High Court but appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court for sentence yesterday.

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A man has been remanded in custody after he admitted sexually assaulting two girls and later causing a commotion in the Lerwick court building.

Owen Haughian, 32, of the towns Hoofields admitted two separate sex offences one on 1st August and another on 24th January when he appeared in the dock today.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Haughian committed the sex crimes after befriending the girls over social media.

The case against Haughian was initially set down for trial yesterday . But he turned up late and behaved obnoxiously outside the court room.

He had drunk a bottle of vodka before attending, and was refused access to the courtroom because of his drunken behaviour.

The upshot was that Haughian was arrested. In court this morning a rather contrite-looking Haughian also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, shouting, swearing and being disorderly while child witnesses were waiting in the nearby witness room.

Sentence was deferred until 23rd July for Haughian to be dealt with by sheriff Philip Mann, by which time background reports will be compiled by social workers.

Defence agent Tommy Allan urged honorary sheriff Sandy Cluness to release Haughian on bail. He said Haughian feared losing his job and his tenancy if he was remanded.

However, Mr MacKenzie opposed bail. He highlighted Haughians previous convictions, with a number of offences that were of an unpleasant nature.

The situation for him is that he has backed the court into a corner and left the court without any discretion, the fiscal said.

Honorary sheriff Cluness told Haughian: Ive listened carefully to what your solicitor has said, but these are serious charges so serious that sheriff Mann has decided to deal with them himself.

In view of all that has been said and the seriousness of the charges I will defer sentence until 23rd July, and you will be remanded in custody.

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LERWICK man John Millarkie had his prison term extended by six months on Thursday when he appeared before the towns sheriff court to be sentenced on a charge of possessing images of nude children.

Fifty-five-year-old Millarkie is currently serving a three-years-and-eight-months jail sentence for a failed robbery attempt on the Lerwick bookies on 17 February.

Millarkie, a convicted sex offender, had pled guilty to the charge of possessing indecent images in March this year but sentence had been deferred until now to await the outcome of the high court case.

On Thursday, sheriff Philip Mann said although the images found on Millarkies computer were not the most serious, a further custodial sentence was nevertheless called for.

He gave Millarkie an extended prison sentence of two years, of which he will have to serve six months in custody and a further 18 months on licence.

This latest jail term will be added to the time he is already serving behind bars.

He was also put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Description

Simon Austin, previously known as Simon Austin Hamilton, 43, now of Vadel Ayre, North Roe, Shetland, but previously of Sutton Avenue, Rustington, is due to appear on bail at Worthing Magistrates Court on Tuesday (July 30).

The 20 charges, authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) follow an extensive investigation over the past two and a half years by the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) of Sussex Police.

Austin is charged with 12 offences of making indecent videos and images of children from the Internet between 2007 and 2009, with seven offences of outraging public decency by making indecent videos of women, filmed covertly on the London tube network in 2008 and 2009, and with one offence of refusing to disclose his computer password in May 2012.

At the times of all the alleged offences Austin was living in Rustington.

A police spokesman added that the allegedly indecent videos of children did not involve any youngsters from the area.