April 2021

Dundee teenager Denen Anderson walks free from court after baby rape video conviction

A teenage girl who downloaded a toddler rape video and researched murdering babies has been allowed to walk free from court.

Denen Steven Anderson has been banned from having any contact with children under the age of 18 and prohibited from using social network sites.

Anderson, 18, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael told her: “You pled guilty to a serious matter here.

January 2021

Scots teenager who downloaded toddler rape video kept notes on ‘murdering babies’

A woman who downloaded a toddler rape video had also been keeping notes about murdering babies.

Denen Anderson was found with horrifying material on her phone including footage of a child aged around two years old being raped by an adult woman.

The 18-year-old admitted downloading the video and a number of graphic still images when she appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court

The court was told that Anderson had notes on her phone which referred to “baby torture” and “toddler murder” among various other similar terms.

Fiscal depute Gavin Burton told the court: “A search warrant for the locus was granted and officers attended on 6 November last year. It was her grandmother’s address and the accused was traced.

“Several items were recovered including a USB hard drive, a computer tower and a mobile phone. During the search she said she wished to disclose information and was reminded she was under caution.

“She advised there were images of an indecent nature on one of the devices. On 9 November a forensic computer analyst carried out an examination of a blue Samsung mobile phone.

“There was an indecent video of a male child, around two years old, having penetrative sex with an adult female. There were at least seven indecent still images, of children from one to five years old, and they were category A, B and C.

“They found deleted notes on ‘kid killers, toddler torture, baby torture, baby abuse, toddler murder, baby killer, child abusers, baby rape, kid rape, toddler rape, suffering animal abuse.’

“On 10 November the accused was arrested and conveyed to police HQ. She was cautioned and charged and made no response.”

Anderson, Artillery Lane, Dundee, admitted downloading child pornography at her home between 24 August and 8 November last year.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael deferred sentence for reports until next month and granted Anderson bail.

He warned her against looking up illicit material online.

January 2021

Sick pervert tried to blame wife over child abuse images he sent to paedophile

A pervert who tried to blame his wife for the distribution of child sexual abuse images has been banned from taking up any hobbies that might bring him into contact with children.

James Alexander took a photograph of himself carrying out a sex act in front of two children before sending the sick image to another paedophile

He had hidden what he was doing from his unwitting wife but then pointed the finger at her when police raided his home following a tip-off.

Yesterday at Dundee Sheriff Court, Alexander was made subject to a conduct requirement putting strict limits on his internet use and his contact with children.

He was told by Sheriff Thomas Hughes he is to have “no involvement in hobbies or interests which bring you into contact with children without the prior approval of your supervising officer.”

A similar condition prohibiting his contact with under-16s was imposed, along with a ban on him being in touch with other sex offenders.

He was also told he would have to allow police full access to his online cloud storage.

Alexander, 39, from Brechin, was placed under social work supervision and on the sex offenders register for a period of three years.

When his home was raided by police, Alexander told detectives that he thought the images they were looking for might have been some that his wife had taken.

Alexander admitted intentionally engaging in sexual activity in the presence of two children. He admitted holding his naked, erect penis in his hand and taking a photo of it in Montrose on 24 June 2019.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told the court: “At the time he was in a relationship and resided with his partner.

“That relationship has now ended.

“Police were granted a search warrant for his home in relation to intelligence that an IP address had been used in relation to indecent images of children.

“The accused answered the door and his partner was present.

“When police advised they would be seizing all devices he handed over an Alcatel phone and pin number.”

Alexander told officers: “I go on some pretty bad porn sites. I sent a d**k pic to my friend.”

His partner told police that he said they had come to the house because he had taken an explicit picture of himself and uploaded it to the internet.

He stated that when he uploaded it, he was asked who the children in the picture were, and claimed he had not noticed they were in the background.

Miss Bell told the court that his partner informed officers Alexander had been “extremely careful and secretive” with his phone for a few weeks.

January 2021

Queen’s second cousin facing jail after drunken sexual assault at family home of Glamis Castle

Simon Bowes-Lyon, the 19th Earl of Strathmore, drunkenly groped the woman and pushed her onto a bed.

The terrified victim repeatedly ordered the 34-year-old known as “Sam”, to leave the room but he refused, stating: “I’m going to f*** you.”

The laird has now been placed on the sex offender’s register after he pleaded guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to sexually assaulting the woman on February 13.

Bowes-Lyon, a second cousin of the Queen twice removed, said in a statement that he was “greatly ashamed” of his actions.

The woman had been a guest at the castle for a PR event hosted by a luxury travel magazine between February 11-13.

Bowes-Lyon showed off his Jaguar F-type to the woman with guests being treated to helicopter rides and gin tastings on the grounds.

The court heard how prior to the attack; the woman had gone to bed at around 11.30pm before being awoken in the early hours by a sozzled Bowes-Lyon.

“She did not do or say anything that inferred she had any interest in him sexually or otherwise,” fiscal depute Lynne Mannion said.

“At 1.20am, the complainer was asleep in bed and was awoken by knocking at door.

“She heard the accused say ‘it’s Sam, it’s important, please let me in.’

“The accused pushed his way in and pushed her on the bed. He was very drunk and smelled strongly of cigarettes.

“He grabbed her breasts and nipples very hard. He tried to lift her nightdress up.”

Mrs Mannion added: “She repeatedly asked him to leave but he refused.

“She went to the bathroom to try and close the door but the accused followed her and lit a cigarette.

“She slipped past him and went back into the room but he pushed her against a wall.”

Bowes-Lyon then touched the woman indecently before she escaped his clutches and tried to call her boyfriend.

However, the poor mobile phone signal meant she could only make WhatsApp calls.

Bowes-Lyon repeatedly refused to leave and said: “I’m going to f*** you,” before saying that she needed “shafted.”

After the woman told him to “f*** off”, Bowes-Lyon said she was a “rude, mean, bad and horrible person.”

A fellow guest later found the woman visibly shaken with Bowes-Lyon initially denying the incident.

He then sent an email to the same guest which included an apology he wanted passed on to the woman.

Police were later contacted and Bowes-Lyon, who told officers he was a farmer, gave a “no comment” interview.

Bowes-Lyon, of Glamis Castle, pleaded guilty on indictment to sexually assaulting the woman at the castle by repeatedly pushing her onto a bed, forcibly grabbing her breasts, trying to pull up her nightdress, pushing her against a wall, touching her indecently and trying to kiss her.

January 2021

Angus pervert caught with 20,000 sick images of bestiality and child abuse avoids prison

A pervert caught with almost 20,000 sick images of child abuse and bestiality on his mobile phone and memory card has been spared jail.

Police found the stash after raiding John Dall’s Angus home.

The 42-year-old told police: “There’s no point in not being honest with you. I have done what you have said.”

Dall, a man with no previous convictions, pleaded guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to possessing the haul.

A sheriff opted against jailing Dall due to the work he has undertaken to address his issues.

The court heard police received confidential information that Dall was storing indecent images.

A search warrant was obtained and Dall was found to be the sole occupant.

He told police he had indecent images on his phone.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell said: “A number of electrical items were seized which included a black Samsung phone and an SD card. A full examination was carried out on the SD card and the phone.

“On the phone there were 6,491 indecent images, 4,817 were accessible and ranged from category A to C. They involved young females between infant and 15.

“The total video run time was one hour and 23 minutes.

“On the SD card, there were 11,256 images of which 10,845 were accessible.

“Sixty-six extreme pornographic images were found which showed adults engaging in sexual activity with dogs and horses.”

Dall, of Union Street, Brechin, pleaded guilty to permitting to be taken or making indecent or pseudo images of children between April 15 and September 27 2019.

He also admitted possessing extreme pornographic images depicting adults engaging in sexual activity with animals.

Defence solicitor Billy Rennie told Sheriff Tom Hughes that he could offer little in terms of mitigation but said his client had been working with voluntary organisations to address his offending.

Sheriff Hughes placed Dall on a community payback order with three years of supervision and a requirement to participate in the Tay Project and the Moving Forward Making Changes programme.

“These matters are very serious indeed and the court will make sure that young people are protected,” Sheriff Hughes said.

“Having said that, you have voluntarily, for some time now, realised you have a problem and been engaging in the Stop it Now programme.

“The appropriate way of dealing with this is by way of a non-custodial sentence.”

Dall was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years.

January 2021

Vile Angus predator appears via video link over court order breach

A predatory dark web Angus paedophile has been given a seven-month sentence for breaching a court order imposed over a previous indecent images offence.

John Johnstone appeared by video link at Forfar Sheriff Court from Perth prison, where he is currently serving a 40-month jail term.

Johnstone, 43, previously admitted breaching a community payback order imposed in 2019 after he was found with memory card containing indecent images of children.

At that point he was placed on a three-year supervision order and given 150 hours unpaid work.

Johnstone, from Arbroath, was made the subject of a five-year sexual offences prevention order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period.

Arbroath predator who shared child sexual abuse images online is jailed

A “dangerous” predator who shared images of himself sexually abusing a child with fellow creeps online has been jailed for over three years.

John Johnstone, 43, previously admitted abusing the child over a two-year period at an address in Arbroath.

The paedophile was also caught with thousands of indecent images of children, as well as images of bestiality, Dundee Sheriff Court was told.

Johnstone was placed on the sex offenders register for life before being sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: “You were a user of the dark web and employed quite sophisticated software kit to facilitate that.

“It seems to me you are a committed user and maker of indecent images of children and I see no alternative to a custodial sentence.”

Johnstone went to extreme lengths to cover up his acts, including regularly changing the SIM card in his phone and hiding devices behind the fireplace of his home.

The creep would take images of himself abusing the child while the youngster slept and uploaded them to the internet.

Fiscal depute Marie Irvine said: “He uploaded category A, B and C images to the internet and shared them with others and asked them to do the same back. He also used social media platforms to do this.”

Almost 4,600 indecent images were uncovered following a search of Johnstone’s devices.

The court heard that Johnstone was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work at Forfar Sheriff Court last year and placed on the sex offenders register after he admitted possessing indecent images of children.

Johnstone admitted sexually abusing the child on various occasions between January 2015 and April 2017 as well as sharing and possessing indecent images of children between January 2015 and July 29 this year.

He also admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice between August 2019 and July 29 this year by concealing laptops and a wifi device in a compartment behind a fireplace and using five different SIM cards in order to avoid detection.

He was also placed on a sexual offences prevention order for five years in addition to his prison sentence.