A CONVICTED sex offender who breached a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) by deleting his internet history without prior permission has been released from prison.

James Storey was also found to have downloaded 39 indecent images of children when police seized devices from his home during a raid earlier this year.

Storey had been remanded in custody for seven months following the offences and he appeared for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to two offences.

Sheriff Chris Dickson acknowledged that Storey had served the equivalent of a 14-month custodial sentence and agreed to release him back into the community.

The sheriff placed the 30-year-old on a social work supervision order for the next three years and also on the sex offenders’ register for the same length of time.

Storey, of Musselburgh, will also have to attend appointments with the Moving Forward: Making Changes project as part of a court-imposed conduct requirement.

Previously, the court heard that Storey had been placed on the SOPO for five years after he had been convicted of a separate offence. As part of the order’s conditions, police regularly check up on Storey and examine any electronic devices in his possession.

In April, Storey was contacted by officers and was asked to attend Musselburgh Police Station to have his mobile phone examined.

During a phone conversation with police officers, Storey divulged that he had breached the SOPO conditions by admitting he had “deleted his phone history”.

He also made admissions to the police that he “had been downloading indecent images of children”.

He was found to be in possession of 39 indecent images of children being sexually abused by adults, including several rated as Category A – the most extreme end of the spectrum.

The court was told that the downloaded images were of both boys and girls ranging in ages between four and eight. The court also heard that the images depicted children “engaged in sexual posing”, as well as being sexually abused by adults.

All 39 images found on the laptop had been deleted but specialised Police Scotland cyber-crime officers were able to recover the files.

Storey pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order by deleting internet history and data from a mobile phone and a laptop on April 28.

He also admitted to taking, or allowing to be taken, indecent images of children at his home in Musselburgh between December 8 last year and April 23 this year.