Men Avoid Prison for Child Abuse Images

0:00Two men from the Lothian area dodged prison time after admitting they possessed indecent images of children. Thirty-nine-year-old James McGwigan from Preston Pans and 53-year-old Ian Butterworth from Bonnie Rigg both faced sentencing in Edinburgh. Sheriff Court on Monday, April 27th. Instead of jail, they got community orders with supervision and unpaid work. McGwigan had downloaded 42 images showing abusive kids aged 7 to 15. Police found them on his phone during a raid last June. He pleaded guilty last month, and his lawyer argued it was unintentional with a real remorse shown. The sheriff called these serious crimes that hurt real victims and fuel demand for more abuse. Still, he opted for alternatives to custody, noting McGwigan met the threshold but could change with oversight. Meanwhile, Butterworth's case went back to September 2020, with hundreds of images and videos on his phone depicting girls aged 4-2. 16. Many were severe, though his defense highlighted no new offenses since and some as fake images.

1:03Both now face two years of social work supervision. Time on the sex offenders register, unpaid work orders, 150 hours from McGwigan, two, 150 for Butterworth and strict rules like limited internet and no kid contact. Breaching means jail time ahead. This has been Edinburgh News Today, powered by AI.