A serial sex offender has admitted exposing himself to children at the scene of one of his past crimes.
Derek Baillie was placed on the sex offenders’ register in 2014 after he groped a woman who was lying unconscious on the ground of Union Terrace Gardens.
And yesterday, the repeat offender was back in the dock and admitted committing an act of public indecency after he was caught intimately touching himself in the Victorian park while families were out enjoying the summer weather.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that one family had been sitting on a picnic bench inside the gardens, close to HMT, when they noticed Baillie sitting on the grass with a jacket over his crotch.
Fiscal depute Stephanie Ross said the dad had been aware his young son had been playing close to the 63-year-old and had let out a cry.
When he went over to investigate, he could see Baillie’s trousers were undone and his private parts were exposed.
The court heard the police were called and, when they arrived, they could see the sex offender sitting with his trousers undone. Other families had also witnessed his behaviour.
The incident took place at around lunchtime on July 7 last year when the gardens were busy with families enjoying the holidays.
Baillie had previously admitted carrying out two sex assaults on women in the city.
In October 2014, the court heard he had bumped into a woman when she was extremely drunk.
His solicitor at the time, David Sutherland, said he initially tried to help the woman, but she fell to the ground and became unconscious. At that point, he stated Baillie was “overcome by temptation”.
Witnesses then observed him placing his hands under the woman’s clothing and pulling up her skirt so her underwear was exposed.
He also admitted sexually assaulting a disabled woman in an Aberdeen shop on June 28 that year.
Baillie had been in the Spar Esso Service Station in North Anderson Drive when he touched the woman on the bottom as she was leaving the store.
Yesterday, Sheriff William Summers placed Baillie, of flat 3, 723 Great Northern Road, on the sex offenders’ register again and deferred sentence for background reports to be carried out.