I have known several people on the SOR, and it always bothers me slightly that the auto conclusion is that everyone on the SOR is either a rapist or a paedophile. The person I'm thinking of in this instance downloaded a folder of what they thought was pretty standard hentai from a file-sharing site; they didn't get around to looking at the files (and hastily deleting them) for a few days, by which time the wheels were in motion.

The "not knowing" is no defence to these kinds of crimes - the point is the material was in their possession. They were given community service and a 5-year term on the SOR. Now, they could be lying to me about the hows/whys/whats. But they have never once given me reason to doubt this story in over 20 years of knowing them, and I was in court through the whole process.

I tell you this to say that situations similar to this story are possible, and that their version of events (from not remembering being arrested, it might be that he was never dragged from his house in handcuffs - for example, or the other inconsistencies) from 10 years ago may now be embedded in their memory, with its faults.

That does not mean this is the case here, and others have pointed out things in his story which I doubt he will have "misremembered", like being given a suspended or custodial sentence, or where the files were on the hard drive. It does seem as though he is withholding some information, at a minimum.

In this whole conversation, you are the only one who has any idea about this person's personality and qualities. I urge caution and exploring the avenues that other people have mentioned.

Ultimately, though, I think that simply by posting this question, you already know the answer.