A dangerous predator infiltrated an Angus family before sexually abusing three children and sharing images of them with other paedophiles on the dark web.
Paul Stewart, 45, targeted children as young as 11 months old over a three-year period at an address in Arbroath.
A court heard how Stewart was described as “great with kids” and “confident” as he deliberately became involved “for nefarious purposes” with women who had children.
The former HGV driver is now facing a lengthy jail term and is remanded in custody ahead of sentencing after pleading guilty to nine charges.
Stewart bowed his head throughout proceedings at Dundee Sheriff Court, while relatives of the child victims wept as a harrowing narrative of facts was read aloud.
His crimes came to light in 2023 after police received intelligence he was storing indecent images of children on his phone – a device still held by police with a “wider investigation” ongoing.
Shared sick files
Prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson revealed how analysis of the phone uncovered sexual images Stewart took of a child aged between eight and nine.
She told the court: “At 2.13am on July 4 2021, two category C images of the child were taken by the accused.
“She can be seen to be sleeping in bed with a pyjama top on and shorts.
“Within a few minutes, a further eight images were taken showing close ups of her genital area.”
Stewart can be seen in some of the images, which were sent to three email addresses.
The creep took images and videos of another child of a similar age being sexually assaulted.
Stewart filmed himself for around a minute as he performed a sex act on a sleeping child. A file including the words “pre-rape” was sent to an email address with the video.
The court heard Stewart would use the private browsing software TOR to share files and contact other paedophiles.
A third child, aged less than a year at the time, was featured in an indecent image created by Stewart in July 2021.
He took other images and videos of her being sexually assaulted when she was almost three.
In total, 367 images and 22 videos of the three children being abused were uncovered.
116 images were at the highest level of depravity, along with nine Category A videos.
Contact with children
Shameless Stewart moved to Wick after being granted bail in August 2023, where he later moved in with a woman and her children.
He was subject to stringent bail conditions restricting unsupervised access to children.
Ms Wilkinson said the woman became aware of the allegations against Stewart, who admitted he was on bail but told her he clicked on a dark web link that contained indecent images.
“The witness sought guidance from police who were unable to disclose the exact nature of the allegations.
“The witness read the bail order and satisfied herself that all was above board – she was unaware of the nature of the offending.
“The only information she had to go off of was the description the accused gave her.”
Stewart would have regular unsupervised contact with children between December 2023 until he was remanded in custody on May 16 this year.
Sentencing deferred
Due to the gravity of the offences, prosecutors hope to have the predator placed on a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).
Stewart, remanded in custody at HMP Perth, pled guilty to charges of sexually assaulting, taking and distributing indecent images of children between October 2020 and June 2023, as well as breaching bail.
Sentence was deferred until November by Sheriff Alastair Carmichael, who placed Stewart on the sex offenders register.
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