Former Edinburgh private school worker convicted again after police raid his home
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A former IT worker at an Edinburgh private school who avoided jail for having child rape videos has been convicted a second time.
Darren Scott, previously known as Darren Scordecchia, was spared a custodial sentence in April 2018 after being caught with the vile haul of sex abuse videos and images.
Several of the films were category A, which signifies the most extreme content. Scott was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and was placed on a supervision order for 12 months.
The 42-year-old is now behind bars at HMP Edinburgh after police executed a warrant at his address on September 5, 2024, and found over 15,000 indecent images of children which had been deleted.
Scott pleaded guilty to having in his possession indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between March 23 and September 5, 2024. Scott, who previously held a role as technical support analyst at Mary Erskine School and Stewart's Melville College, has been remanded in custody since September 24.
On May 15 Scott was due to be sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court but the hearing was deferred until next month to allow a psychological assessment to be carried out.
During the raid on Scott's flat on Moat Drive, 39 devices were recovered by police. A total of 15,179 still indecent images of children were discovered on one desktop computer, all of which were inaccessible having previously been deleted.
The images showed male and female children aged between 1-15 years, including sadistic content. After the system was the subject of initial examination, more than 5,000 images depicting sex exploitation were discovered.
The files were inaccessible but named in way which would confirm they were downloaded with the knowledge they contained such material.
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Scott struggled to identify what made him 'cross the line again' and view such material online given his awareness of the consequences. However, he stated once he had done so, he was on a 'downward spiral' of seeking out even more extreme content.
Upon leaving college Scott started working at Mary Erskine School and Stewart's Melville College in 2004 on a temporary contract which was subsequently made permanent. He progressed from helpline support to a role as a technical support analyst until his employment was terminated as a result of him being charged and convicted of a previous offence in 2018.
Scott undertook temporary IT contracting jobs for a number of years before gaining permanent employment at a data centre where he remained until his arrest last year.
Scott pleaded guilty to a single charge contrary to the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and is due to be sentenced next month.
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