Anthony Ward, an Edinburgh Paedophile child sex offender, pleaded with a sheriff to refrain from incarcerating him, citing his desire to bid farewell to his terminally ill mother, as presented in court.
Anthony Ward was found to have downloaded more than 85,000 images and videos of children being raped and tortured when police raided his Edinburgh home last year. He was caught with images depicting children being urinated on and of a naked “female toddler” being hung upside down by her feet and slapped.
The Edinburgh Sheriff Court was informed that the cumulative duration of the movies depicting the abuse of minors, discovered on multiple devices, amounted to 21 hours and 13 minutes.
During a later police inquiry, it was revealed that Anthony Ward, 66, had been contacting minors on an online video platform, coercing them to conduct solo sexual activities.
Lawyer Christopher McFarlane, defending, said his client’s “entrenched deviancy” had seen him jailed ten years ago for a similar offence, and Anthony Ward had recently been “alienated by his family”.
Mr. McFarlane stated that Anthony Ward was the full-time carer for his 94-year-old mother, who was afflicted with dementia and arthritis.
The solicitor said: “I am asking for bail to be continued so that Mr Ward can get his affairs in order. Given his mother’s age and frailty, Mr Anthony Ward is under no illusion that it is very likely his mother will pass away while he is in a custodial environment, and that causes him great shame.
“If bail is continued, and if the court is minded to impose a custodial sentence, it will give him time to say his goodbyes.”
But Sheriff Charles Walls denied the plea and said: “Given the gravity of these charges as narrated, there is a likelihood of a custodial sentence. I am not prepared to admit you to bail and you will be remanded in custody.”
Anthony Ward, from the Capital’s Calder area, was placed on the sex offenders register on an interim basis, and the complete sentence was deferred to later this month.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court was told police received intelligence indecent images were being accessed at Antony Ward’s home and raided the property at around 7.25 am on March 17 last year.
Prosecutor Gillian Koren said officers seized 20 USB sticks, three hard drives and a laptop, and indecent images of children were found on all the devices.
Ms Koren said 85,763 images and videos had been found, with 2,957 rated by forensic investigators in Category A, which is the most severe end of the spectrum.
The fiscal told the court the children involved were aged between four and 15-years-old and the file names included “baby rape – hardcore” and “no limits – child”.
Police also found chat logs on the Telegram messaging service that showed Ward had been in contact with children online and had been forcing them to perform sex acts on themselves.
Anthony Ward pleaded guilty to a charge of taking, or allowing to be taken, images of children at his home address between November 1, 2020 and March 17 last year. He also admitted to two offences of directing sexual communication towards children and instructing them to perform sex acts, all between June 14 and December 1, 2011.
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