A NEWLYWED husband who was caught with thousands of images of young girls being sexually abused has been spared jail.

Brian McCallion was found to have more than 5,000 abuse files on his mobile phone and a computer at the home he shares with wife Emma in Renfrew.

The couple married in June last year and Paisley Sheriff Court heard it was Emma who answered the door to police in December when they raided the home.

McCallion appeared in the dock in August this year to plead guilty to the three charges against him.

He admitted downloading indecent images of children over a 12-year period, between December 2006 and December 2018, possessing them over the same length of time and being in possession of bestiality images.

Procurator fiscal depute Keri Marshall told Sheriff James Spy that 39-year-old McCallion was found to have a total of 5,492 illegal images within his home.

The images had been uploaded from the property in Renfrew and officers obtained a search warrant before going there to carry out a search.

Miss Marshall said: “Police officers attended but the accused was not present. The witness Emma McCallion provided access to police.

“The accused arrived home a short time later. A Samsung mobile phone was seized from the living room, which the accused indicated belonged to him. A Compaq computer unit was seized from the bedroom and the accused stated it belonged to him.”

Indecent images recovered from the devices featured girls aged between four and 14 being abused by grown men. There were also images of women having sex with dogs.

After hearing that McCallion was plagued by “deep-rooted psychological difficulties due to childhood trauma,” Sheriff Spy had called for background reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing.

When McCallion returned to the dock last week to learn his fate, he was spared prison.

Instead, Sheriff Spy placed him on a Community Payback Order that will see him carry out 300 hours of unpaid work over the next 15 months.

He will also be supervised by social workers for three years and has to attend the Moving Forwards, Making Changes programme, which helps sex offenders change their ways.

McCallion was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for three years and has to return to court in December for a review of his progress.

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