A former nursery worker from Fife who made a spycam film of a child undressing and sent it to a fellow pervert has avoided a prison sentence.
Hazel Keeton, 32, used a camera concealed in an alarm clock to record footage which she sent to her brother-in-law Paul Durrand.
When police raided his home in July last year, she desperately tried to cover her tracks.
Officers seized her phone and other gadgets and discovered she had emailed retail giant Amazon to return the camera.
Another phone had been returned to its original factory settings the night before.
They also found two photos on her mobile phone of her pleasuring herself while looking at child abuse material.
Her accomplice took his own life following an appearance in court.
‘Under the spell’ of deviant
Keeton appeared for sentencing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court this week after earlier pleading guilty to recording a child in a private act, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and making or taking indecent images of children.
Sheriff Robert More told Keeton her behaviour was “deplorable” but having had difficulties in her own relationship, she had “sought solace and comfort” from someone she knew.
The sheriff said: “That person had himself had a deviant and sexual interest and effectively, you were in thrall of him – if not under his spell – and in that context you became involved in the conduct which you accepted you would otherwise have regarded as unthinkable.”
The sheriff noted a psychological report deems Keeton to be at low risk of this type of reoffending.
The sheriff said Keeton has “suffered significantly” in her personal life after becoming involved.
He went on: “It’s clear you were easily influenced by this person at a time when in a state of emotional weakness”.
Sheriff More noted her good employment history and lack of criminal record and said he could readily identify a community-based disposal as a direct alternative to prison.
He sentenced Keeton to 100 hours of unpaid work and two years of offender supervision.
Keeton was also put on the sex offenders register for two years.
Police raids
Fiscal depute Sarah Smith told the court previously police searched Durrand’s home at around 8.15am on July 24 last year.
The fiscal depute said: “On examining the phone belonging to the now-deceased Paul Durrand it was found to contain live webcam stream from the accused’s location.”
Ms Smith said the stream was linked to Keeton’s hotmail account and featured a young child.
Two days later, officers executed a search warrant at Keeton’s then home in Glenrothes and seized spy cameras and mobile phones.
Ms Smith continued: “One of the hidden spy cameras was disguised as an alarm clock, which was linked to an application on Paul Durrand’s mobile phone, called Tuya Smart.
“The application had saved videos featuring a young girl.
“Cybercrime carried out an examination of devices and found (a) mobile telephone had been factory reset the previous evening.”
The search history on another device included “how to delete Samsung phone data”.
Emails arranging the return of two spy cameras were also found.
Admissions
Keeton’s phone contained 38 suspect images, including 12 at the most graphic category A kind.
There were also two files in which “the accused appeared to be masturbating to child sexual exploitation and abuse material”, the fiscal said.
In a Facebook conversation with Durrand on July 25 – the day between the raids – Keeton told him she “felt partly to blame for his arrest”.
Keeton, now of Stenhousemuir, previously admitted recording a child in a private act between July 22 and 25 last year.
She also pled guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice between July 25 and 26 by deleting mobile phone data and removing evidence from her home.
Between June 12 and July 26 she made or took indecent images of children.
Lost job
In court this week, defence lawyer Lucy Boylen argued for a non-custodial sentence and said Keeton had been heavily influenced by Durrand.
Ms Boylen said Keeton lost her job in a nursery employment as a result of the offence and has since resigned from her next job as a customer assistant in Tesco.
Ms Boylen said Keeton has accepted responsibility for the offences and is engaging with mental health services
“She accepts her behaviour is deplorable and is disgusted by her behaviour and the whole court process has really impacted her”.
For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.
