‘Depraved’ paedophile with interest in soiled nappies jailed

Lerwick Sheriff Court.

CONTENT WARNING: CHILD ABUSE

A paedophile who boasted online about stealing soiled nappies to satisfy his sexual urges has been jailed.

Ross Anderson, from Burra, had previously admitted making and distributing indecent images, as well as sending disturbing messages on social media about his desires relating to young children.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Anderson’s behaviour was “utterly depraved”.

Four cybercrime analysts who watched the videos Anderson distributed, in order to categorise them, described them as some of the “worst they had ever seen”.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard last month that thousands of still images, stretching back to when Anderson was 16, were found by police.

Hundreds of videos were also found on devices owned by the 23-year-old – 241 of which were classed as the most serious – with some distributed by Anderson himself.

He also had hundreds of images of himself posing in nappies, some of which were covered in faeces.

Anderson’s sentencing had been deferred for the preparation of background reports.

The court heard he had been engaging with Stop It Now, a charity dedicated to preventing child abuse.

But Mr MacKenzie said it was unclear whether that was a genuine attempt to get help, or an “attempt to mitigate sentencing”.

The fiscal said social workers had found it was “unlikely his [Anderson’s] sexual interest in children will disappear”.

Anderson carried a real risk of re-offending, he added.

Defence agent Martin Morrow argued that Anderson had been co-operating with Stop It Now since January, and sending him to prison would halt his progress.

And he said that Anderson – a “non-contact sexual offender” – would be put at further risk if sent to prison and exposed to people who had sexually abused children.

But after a brief adjournment, Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said there was simply no alternative to a custodial sentence.

He said Anderson’s offending had been “shocking and extremely disturbing to the court and wider community”.

Sheriff Cruickshank jailed Anderson for 32 months, and put him on the sex offenders register for a period of 10 years.

He also made Anderson subject to a sexual harm prevention order, which will mean he cannot use a device that can connect to the internet without the approval of police, and must hand it over to be searched when required.

Anderson will also not be able to come into contact with children unless under the supervision of someone aged 21 or over.

Stop It Now is able to be contacted confidentially at 0808 1000 900.