Locations
Blantyre, South Lanarkshire
Description
A SEXUAL predator has been caged for six years for grooming two under-age girls.
Brandon Watson, from Blantyre, has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register after pleading guilty to three serious sexual assaults, including the statutory rape of two underage girls, grooming offences and the possession of indecent images of children.
The 20-year-old was arrested by officers from Hamilton Police Office following an extensive and detailed investigation which was initiated by one of the girls involved.
Detective Inspector David Tassie, who was the senior investigating officer, said: Thanks to one brave girl who raised the alarm via a social networking site, this sexual predator has been brought to justice. Her actions alerted the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, who in turn contacted Strathclyde Police.
A police investigation was immediately launched with a major incident room and specialist inquiry team being established.
This included a team of detectives, officers from the computer crime unit and specially trained sexual offences liaison officers.
It quickly became apparent to the inquiry team that Watson had targeted other girls, aged between the ages of 12 and 15 years.
They were identified as having been groomed by him into committing various sexual acts, both in person and online.
As part of the investigation, officers commissioned the expertise of forensic psychologist Dr Joe Sullivan, who compiled a report explaining the manipulation tactics typically used by offenders such as Watson. This was instrumental in achieving a conviction.
The disturbing aspect of this inquiry is that these girls were groomed online from the safety of their own home.
Unfortunately, there are sexual predators, like Watson, who use the internet to commit crime and I cannot stress enough how important it is for parents and guardians of children to know what it is they are doing online and who they are speaking to. Watson is off our streets and out of harms way for now. However, we cannot, and should not be, complacent about this type of behaviour.
We will continue to work with all organisations sharing intelligence and information in our efforts to stop children becoming online victims of crime.
Jennifer Harrower, District Procurator Fiscal for Hamilton, said: This was a highly complex investigation into a prolific sex offender with a predatory approach to young girls, which involved extremely close working between specialist units of both police and prosecutors.
The scale of the inquiry grew significantly in size as more details about the accused's offending come to light.
Police and prosecutors then worked swiftly to identify the crucial computer evidence, in order not only to bring the accused to court but to identify further crimes and complainers.
Those of us in the justice system are becoming more and more experienced at identifying the perpetrators of such crimes and bringing them to justice, through the use of specialist units and expert advisors.
A spokesperson for CEOP said All too often, children and young people do not understand, or indeed realise, the risks they may face when they are online.
Talking to strangers or uploading photos for others to see can seem like a good idea at the time, but the consequences of these actions can cause long lasting issues.
The sentencing shows that through education and raising awareness of such risks, young people can be empowered to make life changing decisions.
CEOPs Thinkuknow education programme provides advice and guidance on a range of issues to both young people and also their parents and I would encourage people to visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk to find out more.