Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Predator shared images of abuse
A “DANGEROUS” predator who shared images of himself sexually abusing a child with fellow creeps online is facing a lengthy jail term.
John Johnstone, 43, admitted abusing the child over a two-year period at an address in Arbroath.
The paedophile was also caught with thousands of indecent images of children, as well as images of bestiality.
Johnstone has now been placed on the sex offenders register and is on remand at HMP Perth ahead of being sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court.
His vile crimes were discovered following a major police investigation.
The court heard that Johnstone went to extreme lengths to cover up his acts, including regularly changing the SIM card in his phone and hiding devices behind the fireplace of his home.
Johnstone would take images of himself abusing the child while the youngster slept and uploaded them to the internet.
Prosecutor Marie Irvine said:
“He uploaded category A, B and C images to the internet and shared them with others and asked them to do the same back. He also used social media platforms to do this.”
Almost 4,600 indecent images were uncovered following a search of Johnstone’s devices.
The court heard that Johnstone was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work at Forfar Sheriff Court last year and placed on the sex offenders register after he admitted possessing indecent images of children.
Johnstone admitted sexually abusing the child on various occasions between January 2015 and April 2017 as well as sharing and possessing indecent images of children between January 2015 and July 29 this year.
He also admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice between August 2019 and July 29 this year by concealing laptops and a wifi device in a compartment behind a fireplace and using five different SIM cards in order to avoid detection.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence on Johnstone until January and he was remanded in custody.
Following Johnstone’s conviction Detective chief inspector Richie Banks, of Police Scotland’s national child abuse investigation unit, said: “John Johnstone is a dangerous and predatory individual whose levels of hidden criminal activity over a number of years show he was not only a risk to children in Scotland, but worldwide.”