William Innes

A 24-year-old man from Perth, William Innes, has been ordered to perform unpaid work after admitting to serious child sexual offences involving the sharing of indecent images and discussions of abuse online. Innes, residing in Simpson Square, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court where he pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse images between January and August 2021, and to sending grossly offensive messages of an indecent and obscene character between September and October 2021.

The case came to light when Police Scotland received information in June 2021 linking a device at Innes's home to child sexual abuse material. Officers raided the property and seized a Samsung mobile phone from under his pillow, which contained 28 files of child sexual exploitation and abuse material, including 26 still images and two videos downloaded from the Kik messaging app. These depicted girls as young as nine, with five files classified at the highest level of obscenity on the court's scale.

• Innes used the Grindr dating app, targeted at gay and bi-curious men, under the username 'Horny' with devil emojis.
• He shared photos of schoolgirls aged 11 to 13, sourced from their parents' Facebook pages, and expressed fantasies such as 'ripping the school uniform off' one girl and being 'extremely rough' with her.
• In exchanges with other users, Innes boasted about arousal when passing schools and detailed sick rape fantasies, including plans to rape a young girl after picking her up from school and a fabricated story about raping his own sister.
• He also expressed interest in 'sexy young boys in sheer tights' and schoolgirls.

Sheriff Gillian Wade described the offences as 'very serious in very concerning circumstances' during sentencing. She imposed a community payback order requiring Innes to complete 165 hours of unpaid work and participate in the Moving Forward Making Changes programme for sex offenders. Innes was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years, with the sheriff warning that non-compliance would result in custody. 'This is a very serious offence... I believe the best way to deal with this is with a lengthy community payback order,' Sheriff Wade stated.

Defending solicitor Mike Tavendale noted that Innes had lost his employment due to the case and expressed genuine remorse. Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney detailed the communications and images recovered by the cybercrime unit, confirming the photos were from Perth schools. Enquiries were made to trace the children involved, though no further details on outcomes were provided in court reports.

The case highlights ongoing concerns about online platforms being used for child exploitation, with Police Scotland's swift action leading to Innes's arrest and prosecution at Perth Sheriff Court.