Alan MacPherson, an 83-year-old from Stenhousemuir, has been sentenced to four years in jail after police discovered more than two million images on his electronic devices during a raid in 2025. Of these, over 805,000 were identified as depicting child sexual abuse, with much of the material falling into the most serious category.
Sheriff Mayram Labaki described the scale of MacPherson's crime as "exceptional," noting that a substantial proportion of the material could not be examined due to its quantity. The court heard that MacPherson had admitted downloading the material over a 14-year period.
MacPherson was caught after police identified his IP address being used to distribute child abuse material. In July 2025, he posted multiple images of child sexual exploitation during an online chat with an undercover police officer, who was able to trace the messages to his home.
Prosecutor Rachel Wallace stated that police believe this is likely the largest collection of child sexual abuse material ever seen by Police Scotland. MacPherson will also be supervised for three years following his release from prison and will be placed on the sex offenders register for life.