A PREDATORY paedophile from Dunoon travelled the breadth of Scotland to target young boys and ask them to perform bizarre sex acts.
Stephen Graham (64) drove from his home in Hunters Quay to accost schoolchildren playing in public parks in Edinburgh and Bathgate, West Lothian.
Graham brought with him numbered envelopes each of which contained instructions for the sexual acts he wanted the youngsters to perform.
When one of the children picked a number he asked them to read out the note, one of which had explicit instructions.
He persuaded one boy to video him simulating sex against a tree and stripping naked in front of the group in a wooded area.
He was caught after detectives checked CCTV and doorbell camera footage from streets near Meadowfield Park in Edinburgh on August 18, 2023, and Meadow Park in Bathgate on July 28, 2024, and traced him through his car registration number.
When police searched his home they found similar envelopes to the ones the children had described.
Graham, 64, was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to two charges of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, two charges of causing them to see and hear sexual communications and one charge of indecent exposure.
Iain Smith, defending described the offences as ‘disturbing, bizarre and unpleasant’.
He went on: “From the point of view of the children and indeed the parents who are here it would be deeply distressing and worrying. He says he feels shame and embarrassment. The background is that significant harm was caused to him at an early age.
“These are repressed feelings he has but there is scope for education to reduce the potential for further offending rather than the removal of some of his liberty.”
The accused, who was previously convicted of indecency in 1984, had planned to work as a driving instructor despite being banned from unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.
Sheriff Chloe Millar told Graham she had found the case very difficult to sentence.
She said: “These were two separate but remarkably similar incidents just 11 months apart. In both incidents you demonstrated highly concerning and sordid behaviour towards a number of children aged between 10 and 13 years of age.
“Children are some of the most vulnerable members of our society. You approached them when they were playing and unaccompanied by adults.
“You told them lies about having attended parties and encouraged them to follow you to secluded areas where they were exposed to your own deviant behaviour.”
She said the victims in the second incident advised police that they complied out of fear of being chased or kidnapped if they tried to leave.
The sheriff went on: “Given what was reported to have been written within the envelopes that you presented, it is worrying to consider what may have happened if any of the children had felt pressured to act further based on your written instructions.
“You have indicated that your actions were impulsive and that you have no intention of repeating them. I have some difficulty reconciling the information before me with your position and I have significant concerns that you pose a risk of re-offending in a similar manner.
“When the police searched your home, they recovered similar envelopes to those used in the commission of your offences, indicating to me, the risk of further similar offending.”
She added: “These offences took place 11 months apart and in different locations. This demonstrates to me, a degree of pre-planning and an indication that you have travelled in order to offend.
“I note that you wish to apologise to each and every victim of your offending and that you want help and support from trained professionals to be rehabilitated.”
She said two separate risk assessments had categorised him as being high risk and well above average risk of sexual re-offending.
However, she concluded that public safety would be better protected if Graham underwent education to change his abnormal and unacceptable sexual behaviour rather than being sent to prison.
She told him: “Whilst these are serious offences that could attract a custodial sentence, after very careful consideration, I consider that the public and in particular, children, would be best protected by a sentence that would require you to address your criminal behaviours and work towards rehabilitation to prevent any further offending at all.
“I consider that rehabilitation and protection of the public would best be achieved by the imposition of a Community Payback Order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).”
She placed him under social work supervision for three years, ordered him to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work within two years and made him subject to a restriction of liberty order for nine months.
She said the SHPO banned him from unsupervised contact with children and from entering any children’s play park, children’s play area, school or nursery, without prior permission and restricted his internet access for seven years.
In addition she said his name would remain on the sex offenders register for the next seven years.
