FIFE SEX OFFENDER DAVID SOUTAR JAILED OVER CHILD ABUSE VIDEOS IN FIFE
In a case that has shocked the community of Fife, David Soutar, a 55-year-old man from the region, has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of possessing and creating indecent images of children.The conviction follows a detailed trial held in January at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, where the jury determined Soutar's involvement in the possession of over a thousand child abuse videos and images.
During the proceedings, a specialist from cybercrime police explained that if all the video files stored on Soutar’s electronic devices were played consecutively, the total viewing time would span approximately three days.
This staggering figure underscores the extent of the material he was found to have in his possession.
Soutar appeared before Sheriff Elizabeth Mcfarlane for sentencing, where she expressed her serious concern over the nature and volume of the illicit content.
She stated, “I can see no alternative way of dealing with you other than by way of custody given the number of category A images which you had.” As part of his sentence, Soutar was also placed on the sex offenders register, reflecting the gravity of his crimes.
In police interviews, Soutar admitted that the files were stored on his second-hand Lenovo laptop and one of his six external hard drives.
However, he claimed that he had deleted the files immediately after noticing their disturbing and descriptive names, which he described as vile.
Despite his efforts to remove the evidence, forensic analysis of his devices revealed that the files had been deleted but not completely erased.
Traces of their existence remained, and investigators were able to infer their content based on the filenames, which contained highly explicit descriptions.
Further examination uncovered that some of the images and videos involved incestuous abuse, with at least one title indicating that the material was recorded in the 1970s and had been converted from VHS tapes.
During a police interview, which was presented to the jury, Soutar claimed he was attempting to download programming instructions for the C++ language and insisted he was not a paedophile.
He chose not to give evidence during the trial.
His solicitor, David Mclaughlin, argued that Soutar had inadvertently downloaded files with titles containing “CP” or “CPP,” believing they related to innocent programming content, and was unaware of their illegal nature until he discovered the images.
Nevertheless, police analysis confirmed that the files contained children aged between one and fifteen being subjected to abuse.
The last video on Soutar’s laptop, which he had since deleted, was viewed just eight days before his arrest.
Authorities executed a warrant to raid his former residence at Lomond Gardens, Methil, early in the morning on October 10, 2019.
The investigation revealed that Soutar had been in possession of these illicit files from December 2014, when his hard drive was manufactured, up until his arrest.
In total, law enforcement uncovered evidence of 1,117 videos classified as the most severe category of child abuse material, along with 88 highly explicit images.
The case highlights the disturbing extent of child exploitation and the ongoing efforts of police to combat such heinous crimes in the Fife area.
