June 2017 Dundee pervert avoids prison A convicted flasher who went on to be caught with a horror child abuse video has been spared jail – because “there’s no indication he’s actually a threat to anybody”. Allen Smith was convicted of indecently exposing himself to a 12-year-old in 1998. Last year he was caught with a child abuse video involving a 10-year-old girl and ranked at the highest level of severity. He also admitted carrying out a series of online searches for other child abuse images. But he today avoided jail after a sheriff told him it appeared his offending was “de-escalating” rather than him posing a greater threat. Dundee Sheriff Court heard police were alerted to Smith having accessed an explicit video involving children after receiving an anonymous tip-off. A search warrant was executed at Smith’s home address which he shares with his mother and stepfather. Fiscal depute Kirsten Letford said: “A Macbook Pro laptop and charger were recovered in the living room area. “The accused said it belonged to him and provided police with the password. “Following examination, officers uncovered a Category A video lasting one minute and 46 seconds involving a 10-year-old girl. “Further examinations found online searches had been carried out on the device for images of children.” Smith was detained and gave “no comment” answers to police during an interview. The court further heard the father-of-one has a conviction for indecent exposure to a 12-year-old girl in 1998 when he was 17. Smith, 35, of Buttar’s Place, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to possessing indecent images of children on May 18 last year. Defence solicitor Paul Parker Smith said: “He’s acutely aware that he has a relevant previous conviction, albeit one that dates from when he was younger. “He is not a regular offender.” Sheriff Alastair Brown imposed a community payback order with 120 hours unpaid work, three years supervision and a requirement to undertake a sex offenders groupwork programme. He said: “There’s no indication that he is actually a threat to anybody. “There is cause for concern about his use of this kind of material. “The research suggests that looking at this type of material tends to represent a de-escalation in the offending of someone who has previously offended in a sexual way and that seems to be the case in relation to you.” Smith was also placed on the sex offenders register for three years. April 2017 Convicted sex offender admits downloading indecent video of child A convicted Dundee sex offender has admitted downloading an indecent video of a child at his home in Dundee. Allen Smith, 35, of Buttar’s Place, was caught with the footage — ranked at the highest level of severity — on May 18 last year. Dundee Sheriff Court heard police were alerted to Smith having accessed an explicit video involving children after receiving an anonymous tip-off. A search warrant was executed at Smith’s home address which he shares with his mother and stepfather. They were not present during the search. Prosecuting, fiscal depute Kirsten Letford said: “A Macbook Pro laptop and charger were recovered in the living room area. “The accused said it belonged to him and provided police with the password. “Following examination, officers uncovered a Category A video lasting one minute and 46 seconds involving a 10-year-old girl. “Further examinations found online searches had been carried out on the device for images of children.” Smith was detained and gave “no comment” answers to police during an interview. The dad-of-one has a conviction for indecent exposure to a 12-year-old girl in 1998 when he was 17. Sentence on Smith was deferred until May 2 to allow a social work report to be compiled.