BRANDON SWINDALLS FROM KIRKCALDY: SHOCKING CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT AND INDECENT IMAGES SCANDAL

A man from Fife, Brandon Swindalls, who has openly admitted to being a self-described “creep” and is under strict restrictions preventing him from having unsupervised contact with children, has pleaded guilty to the heinous sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl in her own bed. The incident occurred during the early hours following a social gathering in Kirkcaldy, where Swindalls took advantage of the situation when everyone else was asleep to commit his disturbing act.

Swindalls, aged 28 and residing on East Street in St Monans, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to face charges related to the assault. He confessed to entering the young girl’s bedroom while she was sleeping and engaging in inappropriate physical contact, including rubbing his hand on her stomach, leg, and groin area, all while she was in bed. The court heard that this assault took place on the morning of February 4 of the previous year.

In addition to the assault, Swindalls admitted to breaching specific bail conditions that had been imposed on him in January 2022. These conditions explicitly prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16, except for his own children. Despite these restrictions, he was found to have violated them during the attack by being alone in a room with the victim on the top bunk and another child on the bottom bunk, which was a clear breach of his bail terms.

Details of the incident emerged during a hearing that also involved the investigation into child abuse files that Swindalls had possessed. It was revealed that he had been released on bail under the condition that he had no unsupervised contact with minors, a condition he ultimately violated. The court was told that the attack was preceded by a night of drinking at a party where Swindalls and others were present at a house in Kirkcaldy. The children present had initially been playing upstairs but later went to bed in bunk beds.

According to the court, the victim’s mother was asleep when she was suddenly awakened by her daughter, who was in a state of distress. The young girl told her mother that Swindalls kept entering their room and had touched her inappropriately. When confronted, Swindalls appeared confused and was described as not “making much sense.” His behavior then became erratic; he began punching himself and throwing his phone around before sitting on the sofa and apologizing. He eventually left the house in a taxi after someone called for one.

The following day, Swindalls sent a series of text messages to someone who was not present at the party, in which he described himself as a “f***ing creep” and expressed disbelief over the events. He also referenced damaging his flat the previous night. Later, overwhelmed by guilt, he handed himself over to police, stating, “I need locked up, I’ve done something terrible.”

During the court proceedings, Swindalls’ solicitor, Iain McCafferty, explained that his client was already under a community payback order related to previous charges involving indecent images of children. The sheriff, Sheriff Robert More, deferred sentencing until April 24 and ordered Swindalls to be registered again as a sex offender. The sheriff acknowledged that Swindalls had no prior convictions involving imprisonment but emphasized the gravity of the recent offenses, especially the sexual assault of a young child.

In a disturbing development, it was revealed that in March of the previous year, just weeks after the assault, Swindalls admitted to possessing indecent images of children. Police had raided his former residence on Westwood Avenue in Kirkcaldy on December 10, 2021, after discovering that inappropriate files had been downloaded there. On his mobile device, officers found a Category A image and a Category C image, which were still accessible at the time. Further analysis uncovered additional deleted images—five Category A, two Category B, and sixteen Category C—that had been accessed via thumbnails, indicating their existence on the device.

The images depicted children aged between seven and fourteen being abused by adults and posed in sexualized manners. Swindalls claimed that the possession of these images was the result of “drunken browsing,” and he stated that he has since abstained from alcohol. It was also noted that he was previously employed full-time as a support worker but lost his job due to these allegations. Currently, he is receiving benefits.

Swindalls was sentenced by Sheriff Robert More to 15 months in prison for the possession of indecent images and was ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years. The court’s proceedings highlighted the serious nature of his crimes, which have caused significant distress to his victims and their families, and underscored the importance of strict legal measures to protect vulnerable children from such predators.