The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sex offender back in court for breaking terms of early release
Ross Ottoway, 38, out on licence had erased text messages from his phone
A man appeared has appeared in court for deleting text messages from his dentist and his mum.
Ross Ottoway’s name was placed on the register until 2028 as he was jailed for 15 months in late 2018 after being caught by a vigilante paedophilehunting group.
He had responded to a fake Facebook profile of a girl he believed to be 13, asking for pictures of her “naked and in her school clothes”.
Ottoway, of Arbroath, was on a community order at the time for showing sexual images to three children under the age of 12.
In January, a sheriff granted a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which included a list of 18 strict conditions over matters that included unsupervised contact with under-18s and banning him from owning more than one mobile phone or computer.
The 38-year-old was also prohibited from deleting his browsing history or text messages and appeared back in court in Forfar where he admitted breaching the SOPO in July.
The court heard Ottoway had turned up for an appointment with supervising officers and when they asked to see his mobile phone it emerged he had been deleting texts.
He told social workers he had accidentally deleted a message from his mum while trying to get rid of one from his mobile service provider.
The phone, which the court heard was a basic handset of limited capability, was then submitted for analysis.
Ottoway’s solicitor told the court: “He accepts he should not have done it but is very clear about the terms of the order.
“He is aware that he is on licence and has only just been released from custody. It is a minor breach of the order.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown said she took into account the nature of the messages and admonished Ottoway.
The accused’s original conviction led to a sheriff’s criticism of the vigilante group for what he branded “misguided” actions after they targeted Ottoway following an original court appearance.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael had been told Ottoway, who has a learning disability, was hounded from his former Dundee home and the judge said that “likely led to the failure of a programme designed to protect the public in the long run”.