Doctor Brian Morris Pleads Guilty: Downloaded Hundreds Of Images Of Child Sexual Abuse

Brian Morris, a 29-year-old doctor, pleaded guilty to possessing and downloading hundreds of indecent files of images or videos involving child sexual abuse onto his laptop. Between November, 2013, and March of last year, Dr. Brian Morris downloaded 23 videos of children, which ranged in pornographic offense ranging from level one to level five. In addition to the 23 videos involving children, Dr. Brian Morris also downloaded nearly 500 photographs, which ranged in severity from level one to level four.

The Journal of The Law of Scotland explained these levels (which were reportedly established by the Sentencing Guidelines Council for England & Wales) in a piece entitled “Assessing Internet Sex Offenders.”

“Level 1: Images depicting erotic posing with no sexual activity.
Level 2: Non-penetrative sexual activity between children, or solo masturbation by a child.
Level 3: Non-penetrative sexual activity between adults and children.
Level 4: Penetrative sexual activity involving a child or children, or both children and adults.
Level 5: Sadism or penetration of, or by, an animal.”

The files of child sexual abuse that Dr. Brian Morris pleaded guilty to downloading and possessing were discovered during a police raid of the flat that he was renting in Glasgow’s Princes Terrace in Hyndland, according to the BBC. Dr. Brian Morris downloaded the 481 indecent images and 23 videos of child pornography of varied levels while he was employed at a local hospital, according to STV News. The raid was conducted after a court granted a search warrant of the doctor’s flat. The laptop was examined by an expert after it was seized by police. Morris was informed by police officers of his right to decline commenting during his interview, and the 29-year-old doctor chose to make no comment at the time of his interview with police.

The Internet Watch Foundation uses the term “child sexual abuse images” instead of “child pornography” or “kiddie porn.” While it was declining only decades ago, the availability of such images and videos of child abuse via the internet brought a surge in the viewing of child sexual abuse images, according to The Journal of The Law of Scotland. Even more, according to that report, “websites containing child sex abuse images had risen from 6,000 in 2006 to over 17,000 by 2010.”

Earlier this year, the Inquisitr reported that a U.K. study from the University of Portsmouth showed that child pornography is the largest area of traffic on the “dark net.”

“‘Dark net’ is term used to describe a corner of the internet that the average user knows little about, beyond the fact that it exists. It’s a place where the internet can be browsed anonymously, leaving no trail of data behind to show where someone’s been and what they’ve been doing. It provides the perfect conditions for pedophiles to buy, sell, and trade in child pornography.”

Originally, this form of anonymous web surfing was seen positively by the researchers, especially in light of stronger pushes for internet privacy. The U.K. based study found that child sexual abuse websites made up nearly 83 percent of traffic that was examined in their study about the dark net. On the 45,000 hidden service sites available on Tor, which was examined by the U.K. researchers, only two percent were sites involving child sexual abuse; however, four out of five visits that were tracked in this hidden area of the net were to those child pornography sites.

Morris graduated from Glasgow University. He is currently suspended from his position. Dr. Brian Morris will be sentenced for his offenses involving the images and videos of child sexual abuse next month after being deferred until that time by Sheriff Daniel Scullion.

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