Forres paedophile labelled ‘high-risk’ is given unpaid work

A “high-risk” paedophile found with a catalogue of child abuse images and videos has been given unpaid work.

Michael Allardes, of Logie Estate, near Forres, had more than five hours of video and dozens of sexually abusive images of young girls between the ages of two and 15.

He had 170 videos of girls between two and 15; 12 sexually abusive images of girls between ages five and 15; and 16 images of child sex abuse of girls between seven and 16 years old.

Images were found during a raid of the 34-year-old’s home, Fiscal depute Emily Hood told Inverness Sheriff Court.

Five of the images were category A - the most serious - nine were category B and 14 were category C.

Category A images involve penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism. Category B images involve non-penetrative sexual activity. Category C is indecent images not falling in categories A or B.

Allardes pleaded guilty to taking or making indecent photos or pseudo-photographs of children between January 2, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

He also pleaded guilty to having in his possession indecent photos or pseudo-photographs of children.

Sheriff David Harvie ordered him to carry out 230 hours of unpaid work within six months and added him to the Sex Register for three years.

He was also told to take part in the Moving Forward 2 Change programme for sex offenders and will have his use of electronic devices limited.

Sheriff Harvie said: “This is a serious matter. There are matters of concern in the report in reference to the level of high-risk.”

Allardes’ defence solicitor, Graham Mann, said that his client had been taking steps to get help.

He said: “He has an unfortunate personal history.

“There was an escalation in his behaviour and he was struggling to resist temptation to access the images.

“He is ashamed and shows genuine remorse.”