A predatory Aberdeen photographer who sexually assaulted young models was today jailed for 20 months.
Simon ‘Sid’ Scott was found guilty of a catalogue of sexual assault and indecent behaviour charges involving young women after a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in August.
A jury of nine women and six men took around six hours to find the 44-year-old guilty of five sexual assaults. They returned not proven verdicts on the remaining seven charges.
Defence advocate David Taylor said his client was “well aware” custody would be at the forefront of the court’s mind, but urged Sheriff Morag McLaughlin to impose a community order instead.
He pointed out Scott had not been in trouble prior to or since the incidents and that a background social work report was largely “in positive terms”.
Mr Taylor said: “He’s not saying he did it, he’s saying that behaviour is unacceptable and he doesn’t approve of it.”
He went on: “He’s ceased all engagement in professional photography and modelling since this case and has no intention to return to it.
“Even if he wanted to return, there’s really no prospect of him returning.
“If he did ever return, there would be a viral backlash.
“There was regular reporting on the trial in the local press on a daily basis. It’s very clear, as a result of that, his name is synonymous with the offences.”
Mr Taylor added that Scott’s camera equipment, worth tens of thousands of pounds, was seized by police at the time of the offences and would now be worth “a fraction” of that.
The lawyer told the court: “In my submission, we have not yet reached the point where it could be said custody is the only appropriate disposal in this case.”
Simon Scott carried out a ‘predatory course of conduct’
Sheriff McLaughlin, however, said she was “not persuaded” and sentenced him to a total of 20 months behind bars and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
She said: “I’m afraid I’m not persuaded there’s an appropriate disposal other than imprisonment.
“This was a predatory course of conduct against complainers who were much younger than you, very young women.”
The trial, which lasted 12 days and saw 13 women give evidence via video link, saw Scott described as a “manipulative”, “opportunistic” and “predatory” sex offender.
The verdict:
The charge of indecently assaulting a then 18-year-old woman in 2008 as she slept in his bed at a flat on George Street, Aberdeen, was found: NOT PROVEN
On a 2015 charge of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman during a Christmas Eve photoshoot at City Dance Moves, Aberdeen, Scott was found: GUILTY
A 2015 charge of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl during a photoshoot in a public park in Glasgow, was found: NOT PROVEN
Another 2015 charge that Scott sexually assaulted a 17-year-old model in a wooded area outside Aberdeen, was found: NOT PROVEN
On a sexual assault charge libelled between 2015 to 2016 and alleged to have taken place at the Jurys Inn Hotel in Aberdeen, Scott was found GUILTY of assaulting a 20-year-old woman.
On a charge from December 2015 of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl during a photoshoot at the Citizen M Hotel in Glasgow, Scott was found: GUILTY
On a charge from April 2016, Scott was found GUILTY of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in her home.
A charge alleged to have taken place between September 2016 and February 2017 on the grounds of Aberdeen University and the woman’s home in Garthdee, was found: NOT PROVEN
On charge 10, where it is alleged the photographer sexually assaulted a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Glasgow’s Citizen M Hotel in February 2017, Scott was found: GUILTY
On a charge from October 2017, again at Aberdeen University campus, and involving a 17-year-old dancer, was found: NOT PROVEN
A charge that Scott sexually assaulted a student at Denburn Car Park and an underpass at Mounthooly Roundabout in August 2017, was found: NOT PROVEN
The final charge, from 2018, alleging Scott sexually assaulted an 18-year-old model and actress in her Aberdeen flat, was found: NOT PROVEN