July 2002 Convicted paedophile has baby with ‘childlike’ girl, 19 Sheriff imposes order to protect hours-old baby boy A NEWBORN baby is to be taken into care to protect him from his paedophile father.  A sheriff has imposed a court order to stop convicted sex beast Colin Russell and his “childlike” teenage lover taking their son from hospital.  Social workers feared Russell, 41, who has served a jail sentence for abusing a little girl, would trade the boy with other paedophiles.  The order was imposed within hours of the boy’s birth on Friday and means Russell and the girl, who met at an obscure evangelical church, will be arrested if they try to take him home.  The 19-year-old mother, who the Sunday Mail has chosen not to identify to protect her, told her parents she was pregnant at Christmas.  They were heartbroken to learn only weeks before the birth that Russell was a child abuser and social workers would be applying to have the baby taken into care.  Despite her mum’s pleas, the girl refused to dump Russell in order to keep her baby.  Newborn babies are rarely the subject of child protection orders. But social workers believed it was vital to keep the child from Russell and Dumfries sheriff Kenneth Ross granted their application.  Days before the birth, the girl’s mother, who lives in Dumfries, said: “Our daughter is very immature and naive. She is easily manipulated.  “When we heard she was pregnant, we were not too happy but we didn’t want to spoil her obvious joy and decided to support her.  “At that time, we knew nothing about Russell apart from the fact that she had met him at the Lighthouse Christian Centre in Dumfries.”  A social work source said: “She is only 19 but in many ways is much younger.  “She is almost childlike and obviously this is an attraction to Russell. For paedophiles, it is often as much to do with control as it is the age of their victim.  “He is a classic, predatory paedophile.”  The girl’s lorry driver dad said: “When Russell visited us, he seemed very manipulative. Whenever we asked our daughter a question, he answered. He wouldn’t let her speak for herself. I was concerned about whether he could support her.  “He didn’t have a job and I kept asking him about when he was going to get work. But I never got a definite answer.”  Around three weeks ago, a social worker visited the parents and broke the news about Russell’s background.  They were stunned to hear that he had been jailed for luring a tiny girl into a park and sexually assaulting her.  At the time, the pervert defended his behaviour as “normal” because his innocent victim had already been abused.  The girl’s mother said: “We want our daughter to leave this man. We have told her we will support her and the baby. But she says she intends to stay with him.  “We don’t know how she will be affected if the baby is taken away from her.”  Russell is now believed to have been banned from the church where he met the girl, who lives with him in the centre of Dumfries  But its pastor, Sandy Jamieson, a hairdresser who runs a salon in the town, was unwilling to comment on the reasons yesterday.  Two other paedophiles, Alexander Martin, 37, and Russell’s brother-in-law David Robertson, 39, have also been regular attenders.  Martin was jailed for raping a mentally handicapped girl while Robertson, who recently married a handicapped woman in her 20s, has a history of child sex attacks.  Police fear paedophiles have been using the centre to “network”. It is understood all three served time at Peterhead Prison’s sex offenders unit.  A police source said: “There is cause for concern and it is a situation that we will constanly monitor.”  One source said: “It makes your skin crawl when you realise what is going on in this place. These beasts all seem to target young, immature girls who can be easily led in order to stay on the right side of the law.  “A lot of kids attend this place and it is shocking that this trio of scumbags and their cronies are so involved.”  Robertson married his wife, who used to live in sheltered housing, a month ago.  The marriage – and Russell’s relationship with his baby’s mother – worry campaigners for the mentally handicapped.  Mencap, Respond and Voice UK last year launched the Behind Closed Doors campaign, highlighting how adults with learning difficulties are vulnerable to sex abuse.  Richard Kramer, of Mencap, said: “We know that sex offenders deliberately target vulnerable people with learning disabilities because detection and penalties are so much lower.”  Last week, Russell welcomed a family with a three-year-old daughter into the house he shares with his young girlfriend.  The girl’s 45-year-old stepfather, who comes from England, is a close friend of Russell and also attends the Lighthouse. He is also a convicted criminal, although not for offences against children.  Pastor Jamieson has claimed he is only helping the paedophiles integrate back into the community and offering Christian forgiveness.  But one source said: “Russell and his sick pals make out they’re changed characters because of their supposed Christian beliefs but a leopard doesn’t change its spots.  “Perhaps Pastor Jamieson should wonder why the sheriff issued the child protection order. The sheriff and social workers obviously had enough evidence that Russell poses a real danger to his own baby.  “It’s heartbreaking for this girl, who will probably grow up regretting the decision she has made.  “She chose a relationship with this pervert over keeping her baby. It just shows how he has manipulated her.”  Social workers stepped in as soon they were told the girl was pregnant to Russell.  One former senior social worker said: “They would visit the home and examine the circumstances. There would then be a case conference to discuss what is in the best interests of the child.”  In this case, social workers would have ordered hospital staff to alert them as soon as the girl went into labour.  The former social worker went on: “As soon as the child is born, the social workers would alert the council’s lawyers. The lawyers would prepare a case and would immediately go in front of a sheriff.”  After Sheriff Ross granted the order on Friday, sheriff clerks went to the hospital to serve the order, spelling out the reasons and conditions, on both parents.  The next step is a court hearing at which the parents could choose to challenge the social work case.  If the sheriff rules in favour of the social work department, a children’s panel would decide what action to take.  The former social worker said: “To apply for a child protection order on a newborn baby is pretty extreme.  “In 10 years, I only was involved in one other such case.”  In the Russell case, the courts could decide to return the baby to the teenage mother if she leaves her perverted lover.