January 2021: No jail for Dundee art teacher guilty of sex attacks on pupil over two-year period
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael placed Smith on a community payback order for three years with supervision and ordered him to engage with the Moving Forward Making Changes programme.
Smith was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years.
November 2020
Dundee art teacher admits series of sexual assaults on pupil across two-year period
A Dundee art teacher smacked one of his pupils on the bottom with a ruler as he carried out repeated sex attacks on her over a two-year period.
On Wednesday, James Skelton Smith admitted sexually assaulting the girl, who was aged between 14 and 17, on several occasions.
The 58-year-old, who was a part-time teacher of expressive arts at the secondary school in the Dundee area, has since lost his job.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, he admitted that on a number of occasions between August 1 2013 and June 30 2015 he sexually assaulted a child at the school.
He admitted sexually assaulting the girl while she was between 14 and 17 years old by sexually touching her on the body, and on one occasion by striking her on the buttocks with a ruler.
The Crown said Smith was appearing as a first offender but the court was told he had been jailed last year for a series of similar offences spanning several years.
Solicitor Scott Norrie, defending, said: “While he has no previous offences, he was convicted after trial at the end of last year. An eight-month sentence was imposed and he was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
“That case was perhaps at a more serious level and also involved pupils at the school. Sometime after his release, another pupil came forward and this case first called in July this year.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until January for reports and ordered Smith – who was not present in court – to appear personally.
Smith, from Dundee, was described as “abhorrent” when he was jailed after being found guilty last year of a series of indecent and sexual assaults against female pupils.
Offences took place over an 11-year period between 2008 and 2019 and the court heard he would regularly drop his pencil in order to crawl under desks in class.
In that case, Sheriff John Rafferty told Smith that the assaults were carried out when he was in “a position of authority and trust.”
The sheriff said that Smith targeted a vulnerable pupil and told him: “You sought her out, befriended her, contacted her on social media, and gave her gifts before indecently assaulting her.”
On her last day at school he followed her into the street and gave her a “sexual” French kiss, before groping her breast when she returned to hand him work in an empty class.
The sheriff said that Smith had shown “little or no remorse and understanding” of the impact on his victims.
He said: “In my experience, which is considerable, it is not uncommon that persons who come before these courts having committed sexual offences at summary level are often not otherwise inclined to break the law.
“They may choose to offend as you have done for your own abhorrent purposes if they believe they may escape detection and punishment.
“You contrived situations to get down on the floor of the classroom and in some instances crawl under the desks and look up the skirts of schoolgirls. One of the pupils had mental health issues.”
Creep, 51, who bought vodka for schoolgirl before sexually assaulting her avoids prison
A pervert who bought vodka for a child before sexually assaulting her in the city centre has been spared a prison sentence.
Ian Taylor, 51, assaulted the youngster after a night of drinking vodka with her and her friends in April 2019.
Taylor, a man with a previous conviction for sexual offences, was placed on a community payback order after previously pleading guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The court heard how the child had met up with her friends before going to the Overgate to change out of her school clothes.
They stayed within the city centre for several hours and spent most of the evening at the steps between City Square and Castle Street before being approached by Taylor at around 9.45pm
Prosecutor Gavin Burton revealed how the children believed he was under the influence of alcohol.
“The accused engaged with the group in general chat,” Mr Burton said.
“He then offered to buy alcohol for the girl and went to the Tesco on Murraygate with her.
“He purchased two bottles of vodka, a bottle of Smirnoff Ice and a bottle of blue WKD.
“The group went into the same tunnel near Castle Street and drank alcohol with the accused.”
The court heard how the girl and a friend began to feel “uneasy” around Taylor and later went to McDonald’s on Reform Street. Taylor later asked the girl for a kiss which she refused.
However, Taylor would not take no for an answer and sexually assaulted before saying: “That’s for respect.”
The girl and a friend subsequently left in the taxi and later reported the incident to staff at the school they attend.
Police later caught up with Taylor who gave “no comment” answers while being interviewed at headquarters.
Taylor, of Dunmore Gardens, pleaded guilty on the day he was due to stand trial to sexually assaulting the child between April 2-3 2019 at City Square, Reform Street, Crichton Street and elsewhere in the city centre.
He also admitted buying the child alcohol at Tesco, Murraygate for consumption in a public place. Taylor returned to the dock following the preparation of social work reports.
Sheriff George Way said he would impose a community-based order due to the positive progress being made by Taylor on his current order.
He said: “It’s a very hopeful report. He might well expect a custodial sentence for this, however, this has been reduced to a summary complaint so my sentencing powers are limited.”
Taylor was placed on supervision for three years and ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work.
He was placed on the sex offender’s register for the period of his supervision.
27-month jail term for Dundee rapist who had sex with 12-year-old girl
A Dundee rapist who had unprotected sex with a 12-year-old girl was jailed for 27 months on Tuesday.
Callum Rae, 21, was caught by police after fleeing from a house in the city wearing only socks, and told officers: “She lied about her age.”
A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh heard that the victim had said that Rae would have thought she was 16 at the time.
Lord Beckett told Rae: “In law, this is the crime of rape even although you did not know she was 12.”
The judge said he accepted that Rae was not forceful or coercive and has expressed remorse.
Rae earlier admitted sexually assaulting the girl and raping her at a house in Dundee on May 15 2019 when she was aged 12.
He also admitted failing to turn up for a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow on August 21 this year.
The court heard that Rae had previously communicated with the girl through social media.
She had met up with a 16-year-old girlfriend and both drank vodka before meeting up with Rae and going back to his house.
Rae, then aged 19, took part in consensual activity with the 16-year-old before asking the 12-year-old if she wanted to have sex and having intercourse with her.
The girl later told her mother that she had sex with a 19-year-old and police were contacted.
The girl identified Rae from a batch of images she was shown and officers went to a house in a bid to trace him.
Advocate depute Jane Farquharson QC said: “On their arrival the accused ran out of the rear door of his property wearing only socks on his feet.
“He ran through the local housing estate chased by police officers. He was apprehended and arrested.”
She said that Rae suffered a foot injury during his flight bid and was taken to Ninewells Hospital for treatment.
Ms Farquharson said: “In the waiting room at accident and emergency he told police officers ‘that wee girl lied about her age so much, man’.”
Rae, who followed proceedings via video link from Polmont young offenders institution, was jailed for 21 months for the child sex crime and a further six months for failing to appear at court earlier this year.
Lord Beckett also ordered that he be kept under supervision for a further two years and that he be put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Nursery worker ‘sat on twin babies’ to make money for holiday
A former nursery assistant who sat on 16 month-old twins while videoing her actions to make money for a holiday was shown mercy by a sheriff, it can now be revealed.
Gemma McFee was spared jail because she had been “naive” and was “manipulated and exploited” by a man with a fetish for women sitting on babies.
McFee, now 28, sent seven separate video clips to RAF serviceman Andew Kerr, who recruited her through Facebook.
McFee, who was 25 and unemployed at the time of the offences, had wept openly in the dock as the video clips showing her placing a cushion on the 16-month-old twin babies and repeatedly sitting and putting her weight on them were played in court.
The boy and girl could be seen in severe discomfort, crying and struggling to breathe at times as she applied “significant” pressure.
Prosecutor Kirsten Letford said Kerr, who had posed as a film stuntman, had initially paid McFee to stand on him, under the guise of it being for a film.
Mrs Letford said: “He then incited her to sit on the babies for payment and from the conversation between them she was a willing participant, for financial gain.
“He gave her detailed instructions and asked her to send him recordings of the assaults. She would be paid for the clips.”
Facebook conversations Kerr had with the accused were read out in court.
On June 18, 2018 Kerr stated: “You can do it on the floor but usually easier to start on the bed or sofa, that way you can apply your full weight.”
He also suggested that she smother the babies, and that she sit on their heads.
Mrs Letford said: “When it is clear she is motivated by financial gain he tells her that the higher quality the clips were the bigger the financial gain would be for her, adding that she needed to cover more of the child and put more weight on them.
“At the time of these assaults, bank statements show she was experiencing some financial difficulties.
“Throughout the conversation,she continually asks questions about how much money she would receive for making the video clips.
“At one stage when asked to make another video she stated, ‘Yeah will do. I’m due a holiday so let’s see if I can make as much as possible’.”
In one conversation McFee told Kerr: “He really really didn’t like that last one. I’ll have to stop and give him a breather.”
The video clips, ranging from four to forty seconds in length, were played in court, showing the accused sitting on the bodies of the children and the head of one of them, placing varying degrees of body weight on them.
One clip showed her kneeling in front of one of the babies and thrusting her buttocks backwards towards the child, while a still photograph showed her sitting on one of the babies.
The videos showed McFee increasing the weight on the children by placing a cushion on top of their bodies — and in one clip on a child’s head — and sitting on the cushion.
Mrs Letford said: “Each of the children appeared to be laughing and giggling at the beginning, however as she places more body weight onto them they become extremely distressed, crying out and attempting to escape from underneath her.”
She was sentenced to 200 hours community service, placed on a restriction of liberty order for eight months, and under social work supervision for three years.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown also ordered banned her from having any contact with any child under 17.
The sentence was handed down at Dundee Sheriff Court last November (2019), but any mention of the case was banned until the resolution of proceedings against Kerr.
McFee, a mother-of-two, of Barry, Angus, pleaded guilty in October 2019 to assaulting the twins, a boy and a girl, who cannot be identified, to the danger of their lives, at a house in Arbroath, in June 2018.
Kerr, 35, has pleaded guilty to inciting McFee to commit the offences.
He also admitted attempting to incite a woman in Elgin to assault a child by sitting and standing on them, and possessing child abuse images at addresses including RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
Sentence on Kerr was deferred for social workers to study a report on him by a psychosexual therapist.
Dealing with McFee, Sheriff Martin-Brown said it was her view that a non-custodial sentence would achieve the purposes of punishment and societal disapproval as well as give an opportunity for “effective rehabilitation”.
Scots perv has computer ban relaxed as playing online poker keeps him calm
A sex offenderhas had his computer ban relaxed – so he can play online games to stay calm.
Martin Florence, 44, was placed on a sex offender prevention order after admitting to possessing hundreds of indecent images of children and breaching his bail conditions.
This prohibits him from owning or using computer equipment or downloading applications without the prior permission of supervising officers.
But when a court heard that he often gets anxious and needs to play games to remain calm, he was allowed to continue playing the fantasy game Heroes of Heartland and poker online .
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said he would allow him to carry on playing the two games only but he must comply with the order he was placing him on in terms of any other software.
The Dundee Sheriff Court heard how police went to Florence’s home after receiving information that indecent images had been downloaded to a computer at the premises.
Two devices were seized and on examination they were found to contain a total of 341 images and five videos of children between the ages of six and 14.
Florence, who was employed as a taxi driver in Forfar at the time, admitted that between August 4 2016 and December 5 2018 at Westfield, Kirriemuir, he took or permitted to be taken indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children.
He also admitted breaching a bail condition between December 7 and 11 2018 at the same address, by possessing an Amazon Fire without advising the police.
Sheriff Carmichael told Florence: “These were serious offences but the number of images was not high fortunately.
“It is in the zone of a custodial sentence but I am satisfied I can go down a non-custodial disposal route.”
He said he would also take into account the terms of the psychiatric and social work reports and placed Florence on a community payback order under supervision for three years with the programme requirement to take part in the Moving Foward Making Changes programme and a drug treatment order.
He also imposed a conduct requirement covering the usage of computer equipment and software, telling him he must seek the prior permission from supervising officers before owning or downloading devices and software.
He warned Florence: “This is a direct alternative to prison.”
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