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A Wishaw man was caught with child sex abuse images on his phones while being investigated for similar offences. Robert Paterson also sent explicit photos to other paedophiles during online chats. Paterson, 39, was jailed for two years at Hamilton Sheriff Court this week. He admitted downloading the disgusting material at his home in Main Street, Wishaw, and elsewhere between June 2023 and February this year. He also admitted distributing or sharing images. Sheriff John Speir told Paterson he will be under supervision for three years on his release from prison. The sheriff put him on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. The jail sentence was backdated to February 26 as Paterson has been in custody since his arrest. The court heard police officers seized a mobile phone during a search of his home on January 26 last year. They found 31 indecent photos and videos of children. Investigators trawled through more than 3,000 messages from his online chats. They found that Paterson had sent child abuse images to other people. He was released while specialist officers examined his phone. Then on February 25 this year police officers returned to his home with another search warrant after intelligence suggested indecent images were again being downloaded. This time they seized three phones that contained 44 pictures showing children aged from two to 16 being sexually abused. They also recovered 11 videos of a similar nature. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .
