A convicted predatory paedophile from the US was able to assault a young girl in Perth, despite being monitored by Tayside Police.
American sex offender John Nicoll was jailed for 42 months on Monday as a court was warned he will continue to pose a threat to children upon his release.
Nicoll has admitted a fascination with young girls and has been assessed as being at “high risk of reoffending”. He appeared in the dock at Perth Sheriff Court having admitted sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at an address in Perth between July 1 and 17 2009.
Nicoll made his move after plying the youngster with alcohol in an attack chillingly similar to another carried out in the USA.
The 30-year-old has been watched by police ever since he moved to Scotland in 2008, such was the danger he was considered to pose. He was jailed in the USA for two years and placed on the sex offenders register there for 30 years after breaking into a house and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl only to move to Perth following his release.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said Nicoll’s case “raised questions about the severity of sentences handed down to individuals with a track record of sex offending”.
He said: “This man now has another conviction and that shows a pattern of behaviour that clearly identifies him as a danger to society. He needs to be locked up for a long time both to protect the public and to ensure that he can be given access to rehabilitation in order to help him come to terms with his behaviour. As a country we need to look at sentencing in these cases to ensure that people are dealt with in a manner that protects the public.
“This case also reiterates the need for strict monitoring of individuals on the sex offenders register to ensure that, as far as resources allow, their behaviour is kept under close scrutiny.”
A Tayside Police spokesman said he could not comment on the individual case, but did explain the monitoring systems available.
“There are a range of risk assessments for individuals such as those who have committed sexual offences and dependent on these there are a range of monitoring options available,” he said.’Monitoring does not mean continual surveillance'”When we talk about monitoring we do not mean continual surveillance there are not the resources for people to be watched 24 hours a day and therefore it is possible for people to commit offences.
“Monitoring should however mean that they are swiftly dealt with.”
The spokesman said that any individual who was being “monitored” would be subject to risk assessment and could also be subject to visits and a requirement to register any change of address.
Members of the community were horrified at Nicoll’s arrival in their midst and began an extended campaign to have him removed, warning that he could strike again.
Within a year of his arrival, Scots officers had swooped on his home to remove computers crammed with more than 1,300 images of images of child abuse some of them of the most graphic nature.
He was imprisoned for 12 months and now faces a further four years behind bars after pleading guilty to this latest offence.
Nicoll has in the past blamed his fascination with young children on a combination of alcohol and his strict religious upbringing which had denied him social and emotional contact with others.
Since his arrival in Perth, Nicoll has gained a significant degree of notoriety and has been the subject of a campaign to have him removed from the community. His regular appearances at court in connection with the child abuse images and sexual assault charges saw him threatened and assaulted and his home targeted.ProtectionFearful for his own safety he even began to carry a knife to his court appearances, only for the locking knife to be discovered as he entered the court on October 27 last year.
Advocate Derick Nelson told the court that publicity surrounding the “principal offence” had led his client to start carrying a knife for his own protection.
“There was a Facebook page entitled ‘Get John Nicoll out of Perth’ and he had received dozens of texts and calls saying that people would get him,” he said.
“On one occasion he was himself assaulted and robbed, while during another court appearance the police had to be called after a group formed outside his home shouting threats and throwing eggs and rocks.”
Mr Nelson said his client was candid about his problems and hoped to find help through which they can be addressed.
“What he needs is some form of supervision through which his complex problems can be addressed,” he told the court.
After hearing that social workers had assessed him as being at “high risk” of reoffending, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis ordered that he serve an extended sentence of 27 months following his release from prison.