Glasgow sex offender caught in child abuse online sting

A man known as James McDowall, also referred to as James Spence, aged 28, was apprehended for engaging in online child exploitation activities. He contacted a police decoy posing as a Filipino mother and expressed interest in "videos of children being sexually abused." According to court reports, McDowall told the decoy that he was seeking such material and offered to pay for pictures depicting physical and sexual abuse. He stated, "Send video of you being mean to her and we can talk," and claimed he had less than an hour before his wife and children returned home. The police traced his contact number and found that McDowall was already on the sex offenders register. During a raid, officers seized his black iPhone which contained numerous illegal images, including 329 still images and 172 videos of girls aged between 0 and 14. Additionally, he distributed 51 videos and four images of extreme pornography on various chat applications, using usernames like “PdDdy14891” and “Ihavewhatuneed.” McDowall admitted to attempting to obtain child sexual services, possessing indecent photographs of children, and distributing illicit content, with offenses spanning from July 2015 to February 2024. His case was adjourned for background reports, and he was remanded in custody. McDowall was placed on the sex offenders register and remains in detention awaiting sentencing.