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Eight guilty in child abuse case | Eight guilty in child abuse case |
(30 minutes later) | |
Eight members of a paedophile network have been found guilty of a catalogue of charges relating to child abuse and indecent images of children. | Eight members of a paedophile network have been found guilty of a catalogue of charges relating to child abuse and indecent images of children. |
Neil Strachan, 41, was found guilty of the attempted rape of an 18-month-old boy and James Rennie, 38, guilty of sexually assaulting a three-month-old. | |
The Edinburgh men, and three others, were also found guilty of conspiring to get access to children to abuse them. | |
All eight men will be sentenced at a later date. | |
Colin Slaven, 23, also from Edinburgh, Neil Campbell, 46, John Milligan, 40, and John Murphy, 44 - all from Glasgow - Ross Webber, 27, from North Berwick in East Lothian, and Craig Boath, 24, from Dundee, were convicted of various charges. | |
All of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case have been profoundly affected by it Morag McLaughlinProcurator fiscal Single image uncovered network Betrayal by a trusted babysitter | |
The jury returned the verdicts at the High Court in Edinburgh. | The jury returned the verdicts at the High Court in Edinburgh. |
Two of the men, convicted sex offender Strachan and Rennie, the chief executive of advice centre LGBT Youth Scotland, were convicted of sex attacks on children. | |
Strachan and Rennie were also found guilty of conspiring to abuse youngsters, as were Webber, Boath and Milligan. | Strachan and Rennie were also found guilty of conspiring to abuse youngsters, as were Webber, Boath and Milligan. |
All eight accused in the 10-week trial were convicted of a series of offences relating to indecent images of children. | All eight accused in the 10-week trial were convicted of a series of offences relating to indecent images of children. |
The men were traced through their explicit internet chats about sexual fantasies involving children after the discovery of an indecent image of an 11-year-old boy on a work computer. | |
Nearly 125,000 indecent images were seized during Operation Algebra, which uncovered what is believed to be Scotland's biggest paedophile network. | Nearly 125,000 indecent images were seized during Operation Algebra, which uncovered what is believed to be Scotland's biggest paedophile network. |
Speaking after the verdict, Morag McLaughlin, area procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said: "Tens of thousands of photographic and video images of children being sexually abused were recovered. | |
"All of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case have been profoundly affected by it. | |
"Police and prosecutors have been tenacious in their pursuit of a just result, making full use of the range of investigative and evidential tools available to achieve that, including gathering vital evidence from overseas and drawing on new and innovative scientific expertise." |