A woman has claimed a photoshoot at an Aberdeen hotel was brought to an abrupt end when a professional photographer touched her private parts.
Simon ‘Sid’ Scott, 44, is on trial facing 13 charges of sexual assaults and indecent behaviour against a dozen young women and an underage girl.
The charges – which span a period of 11 years – involved police sifting through hundreds of thousands of images, with 150,000 deemed to contain eroticism or nudity.
Scott, of Sunnyside Road, Aberdeen, denies all the charges against him.
The witness, who was 20 at the time, told jurors at Aberdeen Sheriff Court that she attended a lingerie shoot with Scott at the Jurys Inn hotel in Aberdeen in February 2016.
As the “boudoir” photo shoot proceeded, she claims he sexually assaulted her.
She also alleged the incident came after a previous shoot at Citymoves Dance Agency in Aberdeen, where she claims Scott kissed her without her permission.
Woman claims she was asked to undress by Simon ‘Sid’ Scott
The woman, now 29, claimed that during the shoot at the hotel, Scott asked her to remove her bra while photographing her in the bathroom of a room, making her feel “uncomfortable”.
Asked by fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar what happened next, the woman further alleges that Scott directed her to get on all fours on the bed before he touched her private parts with his fingers for around five of six seconds.
“I didn’t want to continue with the shoot after that,” she said.
“I was a bit scared of the situation – I was in a hotel room on my own with a man.
“I should have known better than to put myself in that situation.”
The woman went on to state that she felt “violated” by the incident and blamed herself for what happened.
“He was kind of nonchalant about it,” she said. “It wasn’t a big deal to him like it was to me.”
During cross-examination by defence advocate David Taylor, he suggested to the woman that what had rubbed against her private parts wasn’t his client’s fingers but his camera or camera strap.
“I’m sure it was a hand,” she said.
He put it to her that Scott acted nonchalantly following the alleged incident because what had occurred was “fleeting or accidental contact”.
“It didn’t feel accidental,” she replied.
Witness says she felt ‘anxious’ after photoshoot
A second woman also gave evidence, claiming Scott photographed her topless when she was 17.
Following the alleged incident, the woman said she was “anxious” knowing Scott had “a significant number” of images of her.
The woman, now 23, said she agreed to a photoshoot with Scott on the agreement there was no nudity.
She said Scott “pressured” her into removing her clothes, adding that she “knew it was wrong” as it was happening.
“I was only 17 and it was not appropriate,” she said.
“I was worried there were all these photographs of me with my bum out and my breasts out.
“There are a significant number of images of me and that’s a very uncomfortable feeling for anyone to sit with.”
‘There were revealing photos of me that I didn’t have any control over’
During cross-examination, Mr Taylor put it to her that the knowledge of his client having intimate photographs of her was one of the primary reasons she reported him to police in 2020.
It followed the publication a social media post accusing Scott of sexually inappropriate behaviour.
“It came to light that this could be a pattern of behaviour that I wasn’t aware of in 2017,” she said.
“It backed up my original concerns that there were revealing photographs of me that I didn’t have any control over.”
The trial, before Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, continues.
