Convicted British paedophile jailed for 18 months for possession of child porn

Convicted British paedophile Roderick McDonald, 76, was jailed for 18 months by Maltese courts for possession of child pornography.

McDonald, suspected to have been involved in the disappearance of Madeline McCann, admitted to being in possession of pornographic material found in his laptop. His defence said the court should take into consideration that “only three or four” photos were found in his laptop and these had been moved to the trash folder.

On its part, the prosecution said the man had cooperated with the police. Despite having been deleted, the pictures were easily accessible from the trash folder, it argued.

McDonald has been on the run for two years but was this week found in Gozo. He will be extradited to the UK following his arrest. McDonald, previously known as Roderick William Robinson, was convicted in 2012 of abusing two girls. During his sojourn in Australia, McDonald also raped an 8-year-old girl.

The Metropolitan police are expected to question him in connection with McCann’s disappearance. It is believed he was living in Algrave, Portugal, in 2007 around the same time they little girl went missing.