Justice in Moray: Serviceman had indecent images of children
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A soldier caught with hundreds of indecent still images of children and almost an hour of video footage has been ordered to do unpaid community work.
James Milton was also placed on the Sex Offender's Register for three years after admitting possessing the material.
The 34-year-old escaped a jail sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday because the majority of it was deemed to belong in the lowest level of obscenity.
Defence solicitor Clare Russell told Sheriff Robert Frazer that this was one reason why her client could be dealt with by a sentence in the community.
She added that Milton suffered from post traumatic stress, his marriage was over and his military career was also to be terminated.
The solicitor said: "He has been in the Army since 2019 and intends to relocate to Devon. He has addressed his offending behaviour by attending counselling on a voluntary basis but there is more work to be done.
"He is a first offender and there has been nothing since. He recognises the error of his ways."
Milton was also told he must take part in a sex offender's rehabilitation programme, provide details of his electronic devices to his supervisors, allow the police to inspect them and not delete his search history.
An earlier court heard that his Kinloss barracks accommodation was raided by police in September 2020.
A total of 369 stills were recovered, two of them and two videos in the most serious category A.
The vast majority of the images were deemed category C – the least serious.
Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood told the court that Milton was away on the day a search warrant was executed and it was his wife that answered the door to officers.
She said: "The warrant was explained to her and she detailed that the accused was currently stationed elsewhere."
The court heard that 17 devices were seized during the search, four of which were retained for inquiries, including a hard drive with the registered owner ‘James’.
Following the search, Milton was brought back from his posting.
Ms Eastwood added: "The Army arranged his return to Kinloss Barracks."
Milton was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work for the community and was placed under the supervision of social workers for the next three years.
