A PAEDOPHILE DOWNLOADED CHILD ABUSE MATERIAL FOR MORE THAN 12 YEARS BEFORE FINALLY BEING CAUGHT BY POLICE.
Hundreds of files and videos were uncovered from devices following a raid on the home Scott Niven shared with his parents in Fife.The 43-year-old is now on the sex offenders register after he pled guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to downloading the abhorrent material between September 2011 and December 2023.
Multiple devices and dozens of hard drives were found by police when they executed a search warrant at the property near St Andrews.
Some of the devices contained 250 child sexual abuse and exploitation files, 20 of which were videos.
The majority of the images were at Category C level but prosecutor Joanne Ritchie revealed most of the videos were at the highest levels of depravity.
Ms Ritchie said the videos had a run time of more than three hours and 16 minutes.
Solicitor Joe Myles opted to reserve mitigation until September, when a social work report has prepared on his client.
UPDATE 12/09/2025 A Fife man has been placed on the sex offenders register after police discovered nearly 50 hard drives containing child abuse material at his family’s farmhouse.
Scott Niven, 43, appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court for sentencing after earlier admitting to creating or possessing around 250 illegal images and videos.
On 11 December 2023, officers raided the property near Dunino, St Andrews, and seized a large quantity of computer equipment, including a Dell laptop, HP Microserver, Xenta tower, a WD Green SSD and 47 hard drives.
Investigators later uncovered images and videos showing children as young as five, with some of the material falling into the most severe category.
Around 20 videos, lasting more than three hours in total, were recovered, with some files dating back to 2011.
In addition to the illegal content, officers found close to 8,000 adult pornography files.
Niven was placed under a two-year supervision order, added to the sex offenders register for the same period, and given strict behavioural conditions.
He was also instructed to complete 160 hours of unpaid community service within 12 months.
