A man has been cleared of sexually abusing three children in Dundee.
Shaun Howie was charged with multiple attacks on children between 2017 and 2018 at various addresses in the city.
But a jury at Dundee Sheriff Court found the 25-year-old not guilty and not proven respectively of the three charges that he faced.
Howie was found not guilty of inappropriately touching one child on various occasions at addresses in Dundee between June 1 2017 and August 16 last year.
He claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy.
The child’s mother told jurors how the youngster revealed to her that they had been touched by Howie.
A few weeks before the revelation, the woman said she received information from social workers that Howie had been accused of sexually abusing other children.
Howie himself gave evidence and said the children were being bribed with the prospect of holidays and gifts if they made allegations against him.
When asked by Howie’s solicitor, John Boyle, if she had conspired to get Howie into trouble, the woman said: “Why would I do that to my own child?”
A not proven verdict was returned on Howie, of Douglas, on a charge of sexually assaulting another child between December 22 2017 and January 7 last year.
The same verdict was returned on a charge alleging Howie abused a third child between February 28 and March 31 last year.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: “You have been acquitted and you are now free to go.”
