Ring leads to arrest of paedophile who abused two-year-old girl

Hamilton Sheriff Court. Picture: John Devlin

Joseph White, 30, repeatedly molested the youngster and used the messaging service Whats App to share warped fantasies about assaulting her with other perverts.

White, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, was only stopped when police linked his computer to viewing indecent images of children.

A raid on a property in the town discovered highly disturbing images of his abuse and also revealed he had a covert camera operation in place where he recorded various women using a bathroom.

Officers noticed White was wearing the same ring which was visible in the photos and later discovered the clothes the girl had been wearing.

The police probe discovered another young girl had been victim of sexual advances from White when she was just 11. White had gone on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court where a jury convicted him of three charges of sexual assault, one charge of voyeurism and a charge of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices between March 2010 and July last year. The sound and lighting engineer was also found guilty of two charges taking and possessing indecent images of children. He has been jailed for five years and put on the sex offenders’ register for life. He will also be kept on licence for three years on his release.

Graham Robertson, defending, said: “He would appear to have been a law abiding citizen for most of his adult life and you cannot form any kind of words to excuse what he was convicted of and for that he will be punished. He is at high risk of re-offending within a sexual context.”

White had stored hundreds of images while the pictures of him abusing the young girl were categorised at the second most extreme level. A search discovered a memory card containing footage of a bathroom. filmed from a camera hidden in the ceiling. In evidence, first offender White admitted he had downloaded the indecent images and installed the hidden camera.

Depute fiscal Paula Russell asked White if the ring which was ‘clearly visible’ in the photos of the young girl belonged to him and he replied, ‘Yes, it’s mine’.

Sheriff Marie Smart said: “You have been convicted of some of the most heinous crimes that come before the courts.”