Blind man used voice activation technology to help him watch child abuse videos
A blind man has been jailed for using software which described sickening child abuse he was watching online.
Guy Kibblewhite, 58, was caught with 689 photos and 67 videos showing abuse of kids – some as young as one month old.
He admitted possessing indecent images of children for a decade, but in 2015 his eyesight failed and he sought out voice activation technology to help him continue to view it.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard Kibblewhite, of East Kilbride in Lanarkshire, was caught after a delivery driver spotted his phone screen through his living room window.
Depute fiscal Neil Thomson said: ‘On the June 28, 2021 a delivery driver was in the process of delivering a parcel to the address.
‘As he passed the living room window of that address he saw the accused scrolling through his phone.
‘The witness could clearly make out the image of a naked young boy aged about six or seven years old on the screen.
‘The witness was concerned about what he had seen and contacted the police.
‘Police attended and he was asked to show the contents of his phone and he attempted to open the device but continually inputted the wrong code and became visibly upset.
‘During a police interview he became upset and stated he had been on a social media app… and was viewing indecent images of children.’
An investigation into Kibblewhite, who has been registered blind since 2015 and uses a guide dog, found he had been using encryption software to access the dark web then used software to narrate to him what was happening.
He admitted possessing indecent images of children between January 2011 and June 2021.
Andy Thomson, defending, said: ‘This is a very unusual case. He is under no illusion about the nature of these images, they are vile and he needs help.
‘He is here to be punished but I ask that he isn’t sent to custody.’
But he was jailed for two years and put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. Kibblewhite cried in the dock as he was sentenced.
Sheriff John Speir said: ‘While the number of images you possessed were, in comparative terms, not great, the images were amongst the most vile that these courts come across and the offences were committed over a 10-year period.
‘Halfway through your sight difficulties became worse and it is a matter of some concern that you took steps to overcome these difficulties by relying on others via communication apps such as Skype to narrate what was being displayed for your sexual gratification.
‘You went to considerable effort to contact others so your criminal behaviour could continue and you have no insight on the impact this would have had on the victims of child sexual abuse.’
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