A north-east police officer who sexually assaulted five female colleagues has been seen out in public for the first time since he pleaded guilty.
Disgraced officer Ross Campbell, 44, has been keeping a low profile after he admitted touching and groping the women during nights out in Aberdeen and Dundee.
Campbell went to great lengths to avoid photographers after his appearance at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, even changing clothes in an effort to hide his identity.
He eventually fled the court building with his face concealed under a face mask and hooded top.
Despite the seriousness of his crimes, Police Scotland also refused to release a picture of the sex offender, saying the force doesn’t issue photographs of criminals who have not been locked up.
However the Press and Journal finally captured him on camera after he left his home in Cove Close.
He was spotted strolling in the sunshine outside Boots in the Garthdee area of Aberdeen wearing a pink polo shirt.
Campbell’s crimes were committed between September 2019 and February 2020 while he was a temporary sergeant.
The now demoted officer faces disciplinary proceedings after the matter was referred to the Deputy Chief Constable for Professionalism, for consideration under the Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2014.
Earlier this week, all of his victims were present in court to hear their attacker admit his guilt.
Defence advocate Gareth Jones said his client wanted to offer an “unreserved apology to all the complainers in this case”.
The court heard how Campbell repeatedly grabbed women on their buttocks and private parts.
He laughed as he slapped the buttocks of one woman at Club Tropicana nightclub in Aberdeen on September 15 2019.
On December 5 2019, another two female officers were sexually assaulted by Campbell during a night out at Siberia Bar and Hotel on Belmont Street in Aberdeen.
Fiscal depute Alan Townsend said one woman felt Campbell touching her back before he told her “you’d be up for anything wouldn’t you?”
He later came up behind the woman and grabbed her bottom without consent.
Another female officer felt an ice cube being placed down the front of her blouse.
A few nights later at the Counting House pub in Dundee, Campbell grabbed the buttocks of another female officer five times.
And he also grabbed her bottom on a train back to Aberdeen.
At Soul Bar and Paramount Bar in Aberdeen on February 8 2020, Campbell ran his hand up a female co-worker’s thigh and touched her private parts through her clothing.
He later attempted to force his thumb inside the waistband of the woman’s underwear.
Campbell was witnessed behaving badly on various occasions while laughing and his behaviour was challenged by a female co-worker.
A male colleague even sent Campbell a WhatsApp message to warn him against being “a bit handsy”.
And Campbell replied: “I was pretty wasted and I shouldn’t have put myself in that position.”
When the sergeant was first arrested, he denied any wrongdoing against his co-workers and was released.
He was later re-arrested at Kittybrewster Police Station but didn’t answer any questions during a no comment interview with investigators.
In court, Sheriff Graham Buchanan placed Campbell on the Sex Offenders Register and deferred sentencing him until next month.
A criminal justice social work report, a curfew assessment and a risk assessment is being produced in the meantime.
