SHeriff COurt sex offender is jailed for under-16s breach

Paedophile had unsupervised contact with boy

A convicted sex offender moved in with a Perth woman and her seven-year-old son after she met him on an internet chatroom site.

But paedophile Keith Mowatt was banned from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16, Perth Sheriff Court was told last week.

The 24-year-old, who has since become engaged to the woman, was jailed for seven months after he admitted repeatedly violating a bail order imposed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Describing it as a “serious breach,” Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Mowatt: “It’s entirely appropriate for me to impose custody.”

Mowatt, who is currently serving a 12-month jail sentence at Edinburgh’s Saughton Prison, admitted repeatedly having unsupervised contact with the boy at a house in Perth.

The court was told that he had been freed on bail from the Edinburgh court on April 6 last year, subject to a special condition that he didn’t have contact, in any way, with children under the age of 16 without the supervision of “an appropriate adult.”

He admitted, however, that between October 1 and December 19, 2017, at a house in Perth’s Tulloch area, he failed to comply with that condition.

The court heard that the woman was unaware of Mowatt’s past - and he disclosed nothing about the bail condition when they started living together.

Depute fiscal Robbie Brown said that the accused had been asked if he could help look after the child during the October school holidays last year.

“He did so on numerous occasions between October and December last year.”

On December 22, police had gone to the woman’s house to speak to the accused “in connection with another matter.”

He was “quite frank,” telling officers he lived in the flat with the lady concerned and had supervised her child on several occasions. When they checked with her, she hadn’t been told about the bail condition.

“She wasn’t aware of the conditions until the police contacted her.”

Solicitor John McLaughlin said: “He accepts he didn’t tell her about his background. The relationship with the mother continues and they are now engaged. She’s now fully aware of the background and had been visiting him in prison.”

Mowatt, who was convicted of child sex offences in 2012, accepted he had breached the bail order but thought it might only have applied to girls - and not young boys.

The seven-month jail term will run consecutive to his present sentence.