8:09pm UK, Thursday May 07, 2009
Eight men in a Scottish paedophile ring
have been found guilty of a series of
"horrific" sex offences
against children and babies.
Monsters: The men were involved Scotland's biggest paedophile ring
One of the men was convicted after he posed for a photograph while attempting to rape an 18-month-old boy on New Year's Eve.
The men were convicted of a catalogue of child pornography and abuse charges, including the sexual assault of a three-month-old boy.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that at least one of the men had an HIV infection and that the victims were shared around.
Two of the men - convicted sex offender Neil Strachan and gay rights campaigner James Rennie - were convicted of sex attacks on children.
Strachan, 41, and Rennie, 38, both from Edinburgh, were also found guilty of conspiring to abuse youngsters, as were three other members of the gang.
And all eight accused in the 10-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh were convicted of a series of child porn offences.
The gang members were traced through their explicit internet chats about sexual fantasies involving children.
Nearly 125,000 indecent images were seized during Operation Algebra, which uncovered the group, believed to be Scotland's biggest paedophile network.
Ross Webber, 27, of North Berwick, Craig Boath, 24, from Dundee and John Milligan, 40, from Glasgow, were all found guilty of conspiring to participate in the sexual abuse of children along with Strachan and Rennie.
The five men, with Colin Slaven, 23, from Edinburgh and Neil Campbell, 46 and John Murphy, 44, from Glasgow, were also convicted of a catalogue of child porn offences.
The jury took 10 hours over two days to reach its verdicts.
From various locations across Scotland, they plotted, whether by using web cameras or other means such as by phone, to participate in sexual offences including rape.
For over 15 years James Rennie seemed the closest of family friends and it is hard to put into words the extent of the betrayal he has exacted upon us, as many of the details may identify our family and son. (Family of baby victim)
Campbell was also accused of conspiracy, but he was cleared on that charge after the jury found the case against not proven.
Strachan and Rennie faced charges of actually abusing three young victims in this case.
Strachan was convicted of attempting to rape an 18-month-old boy in Edinburgh on New Year's Eve in 2005.
The attack was captured in a photograph known in court as The Hogmanay Image.
Strachan was also found guilty of repeatedly touching a six-year-old boy indecently on the same night while he was asleep.
The jury found Rennie, the former chief of LGBT Youth Scotland, an organisation dedicated to helping young gay people, guilty of molesting a young boy over more than four years.
Rennie: Gay rights campaigner
The child was just three months old when the abuse began.
Rennie was also found guilty of two charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by accessing insecure internet connections.
The men were all convicted of a string of child pornography offences. All eight were convicted of possessing and making indecent images and seven of them were found to have distributed images.
A charge of distribution against Slaven was withdrawn by the Crown.
All the offences were committed in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and East Lothian between February 2004 to May 2008.
The mother of an 18-month-old boy abused by Strachan said today she would never be able to forgive him for the "sick" attacks on her son.
She said in a statement: "The anguish I feel towards Mr Strachan is indescribable.
"I feel that no matter what punishment given to Mr Strachan it will never be able to compensate for the hurt, devastation and great deal of stress brought to me and my family."
The family of the baby abused by Rennie said their life had been "turned upside down" since they discovered the close family friend had targeted their son.
"For a year and four months now we have had to live with the impact and haunting consequences this has had on our lives.
"For over 15 years James Rennie seemed the closest of family friends and it is hard to put into words the extent of the betrayal he has exacted upon us, as many of the details may identify our family and son."
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