Former St Andrews Uni academic jailed for ten months for child porn
Academic who taught at University of St Andrews is jailed for ten months after he was caught with 60,000 child porn images of girls as young as EIGHT
- A huge stash of photographs and videos were found on Dr Joseph Crawford’s PC
- Over seven years he amassed a library of 60,000 pornographic pictures of girls
- He switched to Sheffield once caught but continued to travel back to Scotland
- Police traced a cybernetwork of paedophiles sharing child pornography
A Scottish academic has been jailed for ten months after being caught with a library of 60,000 pornographic pictures of girls aged as young as eight.
Dr Joseph Crawford was previously a respected member of the school of geography and sustainable development at the University of St Andrews.
He amassed the collection over seven years, and kept it on a laptop and four USB sticks which were seized when police raided his home in Falkirk.
Dr Joseph Crawford, a previously a respected member of the school of geography and sustainable development at the University of St Andrews, has been jailed
The 49-year-old was traced through an investigation into a cybernetwork of paedophiles sharing child pornography.
Crawford was home alone and told police his wife was working away when three cops staged the raid in 2018.
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard he handed over the devices, and when asked if he had been looking at child porn he responded, ‘I’d rather not say anything until I speak to my lawyer’.
Crawford transferred to Sheffield University in 2019 after he was caught, but continued to travel back to Scotland.
Prosecutor Michael Maguire said the 60,000 images were classified as category C on a scale of seriousness.
The 49-year-old lectured at St Andrews (pictured) before later moving to Sheffield
He said: ‘They depicted girls between 8 and 15, some unclothed or partially-unclothed, posing erotically, with a focus on the genitals.’
Two category B videos were also found, showing girls between 10 and 15 engaging in sexual activity alone, or with other children.
The browser history of Crawford’s laptop showed he had searched for and visited websites that had titles that indicated they might contain indecent images of children.
Crawford, of Rosebank Avenue, Falkirk, pleaded guilty to possessing and downloading child porn at his home between November 2010 and April 30th 2018, when the raid took place.
Solicitor-advocate Neil Hay, defending, said Crawford was ‘remorseful’.
He said: ‘He indicates his regret and shame. There is no suggestion of distribution.’
Jailing Crawford for 10 months, Sheriff Christopher Shead said: ‘Having regard to the nature of the offences, the number of images, and the time period involved, the threshold into custody has been crossed.’
The sheriff said he took into account the impact of the conviction on Crawford’s employment when deciding on sentence.
Detective Inspector Richard Banks, of Police Scotland’s National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: ‘Crawford’s online behaviour was deplorable with no thought of the young victims depicted in the images and videos he was viewing.
Crawford was traced by police through an investigation into a cybernetwork of paedophiles sharing child pornography
Crawford believed that by committing these offences online, his actions would be untraceable. However, as a result of the inquiry, he will now face the consequences of his actions.’
He added: ‘The internet does not provide anonymity – there is no hiding place. Offenders will be caught, they will be arrested and will face the consequences of their actions.’
Crawford has contributed to books and written a number of papers on exploitation in housing.
When he left St Andrews last year (2019) the head of the school of geography and sustainable development Professor William Bill Austin said Crawford had ‘made a wonderful and refreshing contribution to our research and teaching environment’.
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