A paedophile teacher has been jailed after being caught with 1,700 indecent images, including “the most serious” sexual abuse of children.
Dad-of-one Blair Paton – who taught at schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire – accessed disgusting images of girls as young as five through the social media app Kik messenger.
The 39-year-old technical studies teacher admitted searching for child sex abuse groups and possessing the images.
They ranged from Category A, the most serious, to Category C.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court previously heard that he had found them “exciting” and although Paton was “unsure” if he was sexually attracted to children, he thought he “must have been at that time”.
Sentencing Paton, of Inchgarvie Avenue, Burntisland, Sheriff Ian Wallace said that he had “come to the view that there is no other disposal other than a custodial sentence in this case”.
The sheriff sentenced Paton to 12 months in prison and also placed him on the sex offenders’ register.
He said: “This is very serious offending over a period of two months.
“You looked for and accessed images that involved the most serious sexual abuse of children.
“Viewing such material is recognised by the courts as being part of a process of child abuse and there was a large quantity of category A images – which brings a significant custodial sentence.
“You admitted not just accessing these but also being involved in a network that has shared these images.
“You have admitted that you shared images.
“You were also in a public position as a teacher and in a position of trust in relation to children, which is further aggravated by the fact that you were aware of the consequences of your actions and you are not a young man.
“I accept that you are genuinely remorseful and I hope in future you are able to go on and have a productive life for you and your family.
“I also accept the catastrophic impact the discovery of these images by the authorities has had on your life.”
Defence agent Charlie Benzies told the court: “Mr Paton would like to express his apologies to his former pupils, their parents and his former colleagues for the distress, which they must have experienced once his crimes came to light.
“He hopes that in the fullness of time they may be able to forgive him.
“This has had a catastrophic effect upon Mr Paton but, to his credit, he has tried to address the serious problems that he has.”
He added: “He’s now in the difficult position in that his employment at the school was terminated and he has no prospect of getting into that line of work again.
“He hopes in time he should be able to again be in employment, but there’s no way of getting away from the fact of what he did.”
Paton – who taught at St Machar, Bucksburn, Mackie and Meldrum academies – was first flagged to police when an account linked to Paton’s email address had shared child sexual abuse material within a group chat on Kik.
Officers raided Paton’s home, where his wife answered the door, and investigators seized her husband’s laptop and mobile phone.
“The accused’s phone was found to contain 10 indecent images of children,” the fiscal said. “These images featured female children aged approximately five to 12 years of age.
“A full forensic examination of the devices recovered 1,767 inaccessible indecent images of children. 247 were Category A, 786 were Category B and 734 were Category C images.
‘Unsure’ if he was sexually attracted to children
The court heard that Paton had joined Kik in the summer of 2020 “to meet and chat to people”.
“He stated he had joined some groups and that within these groups other people were sharing pictures and that is how they had got onto his mobile phone,” the fiscal added.
“He stated that in the moment he had found it exciting.
“He admitted to searching for Kik chat groups relating to child abuse in order to view indecent images of children.
“He said he was unsure if he was sexually attracted to children, but thought he must have been at that time.”
Paton, an Aberdeen University graduate, also told police he didn’t find the children he taught attractive and that he was not a danger to children.
After being cautioned and charged he told officers: “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry”.
The teacher was well known after featuring in BBC One’s 2005 television documentary series Teacher Teacher.
During the court case, several former pupils spoke to the Press and Journal about Paton’s “unprofessional” and “weird” behaviour.
The latest to come forward, an ex-student of Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, said: “I was making a project but I wasn’t sure what colours to put on it.
“He took me out to his car and told me that the colours red and black together were ‘sexy’.
“I didn’t feel comfortable because I felt he was inappropriate. I maybe would say that I didn’t feel safe.”
‘He was quite hands-on with us’
Another woman, who went to the same school and was 11 when Paton taught her in 2014, spoke of discovering that they shared Facebook friends, who were actually pupils.
“I was shocked because I wouldn’t assume that somebody of his age would have somebody of our age on Facebook.”
She also claimed that he was the only teacher in her school who would physically touch her hand during lessons.
The ex-pupil explained: “Being a tech teacher, he was quite hands-on with us. It’s not like he was abusive or anything, just sometimes a little bit too close to your comfort zone.
“Sometimes, to show us how to do measurements he’d place his hand on top of ours to show the measurement.
“It wasn’t the nicest of feelings because his hands kind of dwarfed ours when they moved ours. It made us feel sometimes a little bit intimidated.
“In my six years of being at Mackie, I don’t think I ever had a teacher other than Mr Paton take my hand and place it somewhere.”
Paton remains a registered teacher
Paton remains registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), which has the power to ban him from teaching.
However, the GTCS has not yet revealed whether a hearing has already taken place.
At the time, Aberdeen City Council’s chief education officer, Eleanor Sheppard, wrote to parents of pupils at the last school he taught at, St Machar Academy.
She reassured them that none of the victims in the case were believed to be from the city and encouraged anyone with questions or concerns to contact a helpline.
Aberdeenshire Council eventually confirmed that no complaints were ever made during Paton’s employment with the local authority.
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