School caretaker caught with sick videos of children being raped is spared jail for the second time
Alan Morgan was arrested at Castlehead High School in Paisley, Renfrewshire, after officers found the sickening stash of videos
A SCHOOL caretaker who was caught with horrific films of children being raped on his computer was spared jail today.
Alan Morgan was arrested at the school where he worked - Castlehead High School in Paisley, Renfrewshire - after officers found the sickening stash of videos.
He was originally placed on a Community Payback Order for the offence but breached it and was spared jail for the breach today.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard previously that Morgan, 60, came to the attention of police because he had been watching films of children being abused on his computer.
A search warrant was obtained and officers went to his flat in the town on December 3, 2014.
Morgan wasn't at home as it was a school day and he was at work, so officers forced their way inside and carried out a search.
Police Scotland computer experts found 108 films on an external hard drive in the living room of his flat, including young children being raped by adults.
The videos police found on his computer all contained children between the ages of three and 16.
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Many of the children featured in the videos Morgan had been watching were younger than the ones he interacted with daily at school.
He was arrested and released on bail, which saw him banned from having any contact with children under the age of 16 without the consent of the child's parent or guardian.
He was also banned from deleting the internet history on any device he'd used to go online and was ordered to make his internet-usable devices available to the police on request.
Due to his bail conditions and the case against him, he was suspended from work by Renfrewshire Council and later sacked.
He pleaded guilty to two charges under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 - one of downloading child porn and one of possessing indecent images of children.
Sentence was deferred so he could be assessed by social workers and an organisation that deals with sex offenders in Renfrewshire and he returned to the dock with the prospect of a prison term hanging over his head.
But he walked free in July 2015 after he was shown mercy by Sheriff Tom McCartney.
He placed Morgan on the Sex Offenders' Register for three years and told him he would be supervised by social workers throughout that period.
He also ordered Morgan to attend the Moving Forward: Making Changes project, which helps sex offenders change their ways, banned him from owning or using any device which is capable of accessing the internet and gave him 12 months to do 300 hours' unpaid work.
But he breached the order after being caught with computing equipment he was banned from owning and returned to the dock today.
Sheriff McCartney could have caged Morgan for the offence but opted to spare him prison again.
Morgan will wear an electronic tag and have to stay in his home from 7pm to 7am every day.
The sheriff said: "Failing to comply with any part of a Community Payback Order imposed by the court is a serious matter.
"I had to give careful consideration as to whether a sentence of imprisonment had to be imposed today.
"I've decided I'm not going to do that because I've decided an alternative is to vary the order.
"This is a direct alternative to imprisonment."
Morgan spoke only to confirm he understood and would comply with the variation.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said previously: "We can confirm that a janitor was suspended and subsequently dismissed in relation to this matter."