Wick paedophile abused young children after gaining trust of mums

A lorry driver who moved to Wick duped single mothers into forming relationships so he could sexually abuse their children and share sickening images of them with other paedophiles.

Sexual predator Paul Stewart targeted women with young children on dating sites and gained their trust to be left alone to abuse his victims.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that he abused one young girl during a sleepover with her friend and took indecent images of an 11-month-old baby to share on the dark web.

He sexually assaulted a toddler and was about to marry a mother-of-four after a whirlwind romance after his initial arrest and release on bail.

Stewart (45) was banned from having any contact with under-16s when he persuaded the mother to let him babysit two of her younger children overnight.

When the mother discovered he had been investigated and freed on bail, she quizzed Stewart, but he persuaded her the charges were not serious as he had not been locked up.

The court was told that Stewart was often described as being “great with kids and confident” by those who had trusted him to be in a relationship with him.

Stewart, from Wick, admitted a total of nine charges and was remanded in custody until November 22 for the preparation of social work background reports before he is sentenced.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and the Crown moved for a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to be imposed because of the danger he faces to youngsters.

Fiscal depute Sarah Wilkinson told the court: “He was an HGV driver. The offending to which he has pled guilty is indicative of someone who involves themselves with women who have children, so he can have access to them for nefarious purposes.

“Many witnesses have described him as great with kids and confident. It was known to the first mother that the accused has children of his own, but never spoke of them, nor did he have any contact with them.

“She did not know the reason for this. They met in 2017. Information was received by police and he was arrested at work in May 2023. Photos of her child were found on a location on his phone indicative of them being emailed from the device. They had been sent to three email addresses.”

Stewart had pulled the eight-year-old girl’s underwear aside to photograph her genitals as she slept. His face could be seen in the recovered images.

He also took a minute-long video of himself carrying out a sex act during a sleepover, which he sent on to another paedophile.

A total of 367 indecent images and 22 videos were recovered.

He appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court and was granted bail on August 3, 2023, with strict conditions not to be in the company of anyone under 16 years old.

A month later, he met another mother through dating site Tinder and quickly moved in with her and her children, despite the bail conditions he knew he was subject to.

Ms Wilkinson said: “The relationship moved quickly and they were engaged to be married by Christmas 2023. She noted that it was all a bit quick.

“She became aware of the police investigations and confronted the accused, who told her he was on the dark web and that he was sent a link which he clicked on and his phone was then full of indecent images.

“He said what he had done wasn’t bad because he had been given bail. She asked the police but they were unable to give her the exact nature of the allegations against him.

“She read the bail order and was satisfied all was above board. She allowed the accused to watch her sons. Sometimes he was left in charge of them overnight.”

Stewart admitted carrying out a series of offences in Arbroath and Wick between October 2020 and May 2024.