June 2019

Babysitter jailed over sex act in disabled girl’s Inverness bedroom

A perverted babysitter who crept into a disabled girl’s bedroom where he masturbated himself has been jailed

Benjamin Cameron has now been sentenced to 27 months having already been remanded after failing to meet with social workers for a pre-sentencing background report.

The report was called for by Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood after 34-year-old Cameron, of Kingsview Terrace, Inverness, admitted his guilt at an earlier hearing.

Inverness Sheriff Court heard he carried out a sex act on himself in the girl’s bedroom while she was asleep.

The court heard Cameron’s activity had been captured on CCTV installed in the girl’s bedroom by her parents to allow them to monitor her.

At last month’s hearing defence agent Neil Wilson admitted he could offer no reasonable excuse for Cameron not having attended the initial meeting with social workers as ordered by the court.

He said it had been because Cameron was working but also added: “If he had phoned me, I would have unequivocally told him that his boss can’t jail him but the court can, and that he should attend or he would be in breach of his bail.”

At today’s hearing, with the report before him, Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood criticised Cameron for continuing to deny what he had done despite the existence of video footage of the incident, some of which had been shown to him subsequently.

Cameron pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a youngster by entering her bedroom while she was sleeping and standing close to her while he carried out a sex act on himself.

The offence occurred on August 12, 2018 in a house in Inverness.

Depute fiscal Ross Carvel said: “When challenged about what he had done, he said he couldn’t remember because he had consumed a large amount of alcohol.”

Sheriff Fleetwood backdated the sentence to May 7, the date on which Cameron was remanded in custody.

He also placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for a period of 10 years.