Derek Kennedy

A former Scottish police officer has been sentenced to one year in prison for possessing and downloading a vast collection of child sexual abuse material, including depraved videos depicting child rape.

Derek Kennedy, aged 34 from Dundee, admitted to downloading indecent images and videos of children at his home between 10 August 2016 and 16 July 2019. The case came to light following a police raid on his residence at Butters Road, Dundee, on 29 August 2019, where officers seized a mobile phone, two laptops, and other devices. Preliminary analysis revealed indecent images of children, leading to Kennedy's arrest and questioning at Police Scotland headquarters in Dundee.

During interrogation, Kennedy initially claimed the downloads were accidental and that he could not understand why he retained the material, stating, 'something in the back of my mind made me keep them.' He admitted to masturbating to the images but denied any sexual interest in children. However, forensic examination of the devices uncovered a deliberate and extensive collection: 4,707 indecent images and 1,118 videos totalling over 18 hours of footage. The material primarily featured young girls from infant age up to 15 years old, with the majority classified as Category A—the most serious category—depicting child rape, bestiality, and sadism.

• Images and videos were organised into specific folders on the devices.
• Kennedy had copied material between laptops and his phone.
• He used peer-to-peer file-sharing software to search and download the content.
• Privacy tools and the Tor browser were installed to enable anonymity.

The court heard that Kennedy, who had no previous convictions and was unemployed at the time, had been a serving officer with Police Scotland when he began downloading the material in 2016. He resigned from the force for medical reasons prior to the raid and has a history of mental health difficulties, as noted by his solicitor, Theo Finlay. Finlay emphasised Kennedy's regular employment history and his role as a police officer.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson detailed the severity of the haul during the hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court. Kennedy was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years. The case underscores the hidden nature of such offences, even among those in positions of public trust like law enforcement.