http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2418255.ece
By BRIAN LEWIS and BRIAN HORNE
EIGHT monsters committed a sickening catalogue of depraved child porn and abuse crimes as part of a vile paedophile network.
The fiends were yesterday convicted of a string of horrific offences — including sex attacks on a baby and toddler — and face years in prison.
They were snared at various locations across Scotland after being traced by police through their sordid internet chats.
Convicted sex offender Neil Strachan — who is HIV positive, and gay rights campaigner James Rennie, 38, were found guilty of shocking attacks on children.
The evil pair, from Edinburgh, were also convicted of plotting to abuse youngsters along with three other members of the gang.
Divorced Strachan, 41, and Rennie now face life sentences after a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found them guilty.
Bank teller Ross Webber, 27, of North Berwick, East Lothian, insurance claims adjuster Craig Boath, 24, of Dundee, and John Milligan, 40, from Glasgow, were nailed with them for plotting to turn their sick abuse fantasies into reality by arranging access to young children to carry out acts of gross sexual abuse.
Church elder Neil Campbell, 46, of Glasgow, was cleared of conspiracy. But all six, along with IT administrator Colin Slaven, 23, of Edinburgh, and gay sauna worker John Murphy, 44, of Glasgow, were found guilty of charges relating to child pornography.
It is the first time that a conspiracy charge has been used successfully in Scotland to nail a gang of perverts.
They plotted, using web cameras or by phone, to participate in horrific sexual offences, including rape and sodomy.
Nearly 125,000 indecent images were seized during Operation Algebra, which uncovered the group, believed to be Scotland’s biggest paedophile network.
Strachan, who worked with a Celtic boys club, and Rennie faced charges of 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 chilling attack was captured in a photograph.
Strachan was also found guilty of repeatedly touching a six-year-old boy indecently on the same night while he was asleep.
Rennie — who was at the time, the outwardly respectable boss of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Scotland (LGBT) — was convicted of molesting a boy for more than four years.
The catalogue of abuse started when the child was only three-months-old.
Gay youth worker Rennie circulated photos of the abuse and offered the child to other perverts during internet chats.
He also allowed civil servant Milligan to listen in over the phone while he abused the little boy.
And Strachan, who has already served a prison sentence for child abuse, joined Rennie to molest the tot at Rennie’s flat in Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, when the little boy was between one and three years old.
Milligan, a prolific distributor of child porn with more than 78,000 photos and video clips in his vile stash, discussed getting his hands on the child and passed on images of Rennie’s abuse to others. Rennie also used a computer link at the LGBT centre in Leith to access child porn.
All eight accused 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 during various periods from February 2004 to May 2008.
It is now hoped the probe could spark a new investigation which could uncover a massive international paedo ring.
Police have already identified 70 men across Britain and overseas with links to the gang, almost 50 of whom have been arrested or are under investigation.
DI Stuart Hood, senior investigating officer, believes thousands of beasts could be snared.
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He said: “It is impossible to predict how many could be identified worldwide.”
The massive probe into the paedophiles began two years ago when Strachan tried to get his laptop fixed.
Police were called in after a picture of a naked boy was found on the paint machine engineer’s computer. It also contained a folder called “young boys”. Cops believe Strachan forgot the horrific images were on the laptop.
Police then used Strachan’s email and forum names to track down other monsters.
Parents of the abused children were in court to hear the verdicts.
Speaking afterwards, Det Supt Allan Jones, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “This case was one of the biggest and most challenging ever investigated by the force and represented the largest paedophile network dismantled in Scotland.
"As the investigation unfolded it revealed a web of people who had a common interest in child sexual abuse.
“They made initial contact via the internet and used it to share vile imagery and discuss the abuse of children.”
He added: “Our thoughts go out to the victims and their families who have gone through untold trauma as a result of these despicable acts.”
Morag McLaughlin, area procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, said: “All of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case have been profoundly affected by it.”
A spokesman for LGBT Youth Scotland said: “We are appalled by the abuse and exploitation of children by James Rennie, and wholeheartedly welcome his conviction.”
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