July 2019 Third jail sentence for sex offender caught using Grindr at bus stop A perverted former youth football coach has been jailed for the third time after he was caught logging on to Grindr using a banned device. Craig Raeburn was placed on a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) last year after he was caught attempting to meet someone he believed to be a young boy in an online vigilante sting at an Edinburgh train station. Raeburn, 54, was forced to declare all internet devices under the order but he breached the strict rules when he was caught using an electronic tablet to log on to the gay dating site. Police officers on patrol spotted the former NHS manager using the device while he was standing at a bus stop in Haddington earlier this year. Raeburn claimed he had bought the tablet three days earlier after he became concerned of rumours that his personal details were being published on social media sites. But he was jailed for 15 months by Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC when he appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday (Tuesday). Previously, the court heard Raeburn was caught logging onto the Grindr app while standing at a bus stop outside a chemist on Haddington High Street at about 11.10pm on March 1. Prosecutor Lorna Ferrier said: “The [police] officers spoke to him and he seemed agitated. “He had a mobile phone and a tablet and was hastily attempting to switch the tablet off. “Officers took possession of the device and saw there was an error message [displayed on the screen]. “He had been attempting to connect to a Grindr application and there was an active Wi-Fi connection. “The accused said he was aware of the conditions of the SOPO and the tablet was seized.” Raeburn, who was coaching boys at local youth side Cockenzie Star when he first began offending – he no longer has any involvement with the club – was jailed for 14 months in January 2017 when he was caught with 1,400 indecent images of children on his computer. He was subsequently sacked from his position as a practitioner services manager with the NHS. Raeburn was sent to prison again last year after getting caught up in a Wolf Pack Hunter UK online sting where he attempted to meet up with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old boy at an Edinburgh train station. At that time, the father-of-two, from Port Seton, was sentenced to 20 months in custody and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and handed the SOPO. Raeburn pleaded guilty to breaching his SOPO by possessing an internet capable device that had not been registered by the Offender Management Unit at High Street, Haddington, on March 1. October 2018 East Lothian football coach jailed in paedophile hunter sting A former youth football coach who was caught in a paedophile hunter sting has been handed an extended jail sentence. Craig Raeburn contacted an online account he believed to be owned by a 12-year-old boy and sent him pictures of his penis and made lewd comments. But the bogus WhatsApp account had been set up by internet group Wolf Pack Hunters UK who passed all Raeburn’s disturbing messages onto police Raeburn contacted ‘12-year-old Cameron Scott’ just weeks after he had been released from prison after he was caught with hundreds of disgusting child abuse images and 20 revolting videos – some at the most extreme end of the spectrum – despite the pervert trying to delete most of the files. Raeburn, from Port Seton, East Lothian, was jailed for 14 months and placed on the sex offenders register for ten years when he admitted possessing the images at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last April. Now the ex-youth coach is back behind bars after admitting to sending pictures and messages of an explicit nature to the Wolf Hunter decoy between March 17 and 28 this year. Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC branded the offences as “serious and concerning” and added in his opinion “custody is entirely appropriate”. Sheriff O’Grady jailed Raeburn for 20 months and told the pervert he would be supervised for a further 12 months on his release. The sheriff also placed 54-year-old Raeburn on the sex offenders register for ten years at the capital’s sheriff court yesterday. Previously the court heard Raeburn, who was sacked from his position as an NHS manager following last year’s conviction, contacted a Skype account set up by a Wolf Pack Hunters UK member posing as a child. The sordid chats switched to WhatsApp where Raeburn sent the boy pictures of his penis and made comments about engaging in “oral sex” and “full sex” with the lad. A plea of not guilty to making arrangements to meet the boy at the capital’s Waverley Station with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with or in the presence of the child was accepted as part of a plea bargain. A not guilty plea to Raeburn breaching his Sex Offenders Supervision Order (SOPO) by being in possession of an iPad between March 17 and 28 this year was also accepted by the Crown. September 2018 Convicted pervert caught by paedophile hunters A perverted footie coach who was caught with more than 1400 sick child abuse images has been caged again after being caught in a paedo hunting team sting. Craig Raeburn, who coached youngsters at Cockenzie Star, was caught with hundreds of images and videos of children being abused when police raided his home in 2016. He was jailed for 14 months and placed on the sex offenders register for ten years after pleading guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last April. But just months after his release from prison, the former NHS manager sent pics of his penis to what he believed was a 12-year-old boy called ‘Cameron Scott’. Raeburn from Port Seton, East Lothian, also made sexual comments to him in messages through Skype and through WhatsApp. But the young lad turned out to be a decoy set up by the internet group Wolf Pack Hunters UK who subsequently handed over all the “disturbing” messages to the police. Raeburn pled guilty to sending pictures and messages of an explicit nature to a boy called Cameron Scott between March 17 and 28 this year when he appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Fiscal depute Fraser Mathieson told the court a member of the Wolf Pack Hunters UK had set up a bogus child account in March this year and Raeburn made contact just four days later. Mr Mathieson said: “The group [Wolf Pack Hunters] makes use of decoys who are adults who create online profiles on chat sites on social media and adopt the persona of a child. “A member set up the profile of a 12-year-old boy on Skype on March 13 and on March 17 he received a message from the accused.” The disgraced footie coach swapped phone numbers with the boy and began making comments on the WhatsApp about the “mutual caressing of [each others] bodies” and engaging in “oral sex” and “full sex”. Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC deferred sentence to later this month for the preparation of reports and for a risk assessment to be carried out. He also placed 54-year-old Raeburn on the sex offenders register and remanded him in custody. February 2017 Former youth football coach who downloaded child rape movies and 1,400 indecent images, is jailed A FORMER youth football coach who was caught with disgusting movies showing children being raped has been jailed. Port Seton dad-of-two Craig Raeburn stored hundreds of images of children – some as young as three-years-old – being abused by adults on two laptops he kept at his home. Raeburn – who previously coached primary school-aged children at his local football club in Cockenzie – also installed file sharing software on the computers. His internet history included searches for ’10-year-old boy having sex with dad’ and ‘China – 11-year-old boy ****** and crying’. The former NHS manager attempted to hide his depravity by deleting many of the child abuse files he had downloaded. He was jailed for 14 months and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years following an appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court  But officers using specialist software had managed to recover most of the images and associated file names. The disgraced former football coach was found to have collected more than 1,400 disturbing child abuse images and a further 20 movies. Many of the images and movies were at the most serious end of the spectrum and included three-year-old boys being raped by adults. Ms Warner said: “The images and movies appear to have been deleted from the device and were not accessible without specialist software. “On the large part it would appear to be [concerning] boys, but some files relate to a 12-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl having sex. “The Category A images totalled 326 images and 16 movies that depicted boys aged from three to 14 years old engaging in penetrative activities with adults or other children.” Raeburn, a first offender, also admitted to a charge of breaking bail conditions previously imposed by a court by contacting a teenage boy named in other charges against him which were later dropped. Solicitor Andrew Mellor told the court that his client had been sacked from his position as a practitioner services manager with the NHS due to the court case. Mr Mellor said: “The background which led to the offences are there seem to be some unfortunate circumstances in his past, though that is no excuse. “He is currently living with his father but it is anticipated he will get back with his wife.” Sheriff Norman McFadyen said: “This is a serious case and you held a number of images of children over a significant age range and were involved in this activity over a significant period of time. “I am satisfied there is no suitable alternative to a custodial sentence.” Sheriff McFadyen jailed Raeburn for a total of 14 months and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for ten years. The sheriff also sentenced Raeburn to a five-year sex offenders’ prevention order when he is released, which includes banning him from having any relationship with children under 16 and not to own any devices which can access the internet. Raeburn pleaded guilty to downloading and possessing indecent images of children at his home address between November 1, 2012, and February 4 last year. He also admitted to breaking bail conditions by contacting a teenage boy between February 5 and November 2 last year, despite being ordered not to during earlier court hearings. January 2017 Youth football coach facing jail after downloading child rape movies and 1,400 indecent images A DAD-of-two who admitted downloading disgusting child rape movies could face jail. Former youth football coach Craig Raeburn stored hundreds of images of children – some as young as three years old – being abused by adults on two laptops he kept at his Port Seton home. Raeburn, 52, was also found to have file sharing software installed on his computer, while his internet searches included ’10-year-old boy having sex with dad’ and ‘China: 11-year-old boy ****** and crying’. He was found to have collected more than 1,400 disturbing child abuse images and a further 20 movies. But he walked free from allegations that he had performed sex acts on a 14-year-old boy in his local church. Married Raeburn was alleged to have sexually assaulted the teenager at Cockenzie and Port Seton Old Parish Church, while he had also been charged with sexually assaulting a second 14-year-old boy at the accused’s family home at Seton Court, Port Seton. But not guilty pleas to the four charges involving the teenage boys were accepted by the Crown during today’s (Thursday) hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Raeburn was warned by Sheriff Norman McFadyen that “all sentencing options remain open” and he was placed on the sex offenders’ register for a time still to be determined. Fiscal depute Naomi Warner told the court that police officers had confiscated two laptops and a hard drive from Raeburn’s home and discovered he had deleted many of the downloaded child abuse files. But officers using specialist software managed to recover most of the images and associated file names. Many of the images and movies were at the most serious end of the spectrum and included three-year-old boys being raped by adults. Ms Warner said: “The images and movies appear to have been deleted from the device and were not accessible without specialist software. “File sharing software was also found and a number of file names within the software included ‘ten-year-old boy having sex with dad’ and ’11-year-old boy ****** and crying’. “On the large part it would appear to be boys, but some files relate to a 12-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl having sex. “The Category A images totalled 326 images and 16 movies that depicted boys aged from three to 14 years old engaging in penetrative activities with adults or other children.” Raeburn, a first offender, also admitted to a charge of breaking bail conditions previously imposed by a court by contacting one of the boys involved in the dropped charges. Sheriff McFadyen said: “In a case of this nature I am required to get a full background report and sentence will be deferred.” Raeburn pleaded guilty to downloading and possessing indecent images of children at his home address between November 1, 2012, and February 4 last year. He also admitted to breaking bail conditions by contacting a teenage boy between February 5 and November 2 last year, despite being ordered not to during earlier court hearings. Raeburn will return to court to be sentenced next month.