A Perth paedophile who directed sex attacks and rapes of young girls in the Philippines from his home is behind bars.
Retained firefighter Gary Campbell paid for the abuse to be carried out by adults as he watched and recorded it in “real time” via a livestream to his address.
A court heard some of the prepubescent victims featured in the footage could have been as young as four.
A prosecutor described sick material for which Campbell had paid between between £10 and £30.
In footage of the rape of two girls aged nine by an unknown male Campbell was told the man was aged 25 and said: “He is a very lucky guy getting to do a show with these girls.”
Campbell, 59, now of Windsor Court, Perth, admitted 13 charges of sexual assault, causing female children to become providers of sexual services and rape, between June 2012 and August 2014 while living at Culag Gardens, Lochinver, in Sutherland.
Devices full of abuse material
Advocate depute Margaret Barron told the High Court in Edinburgh that in May 2021 the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit in Inverness learned Campbell had made 13 payments to a woman living in the Philippines who had been arrested for producing, possessing and distributing indecent images of children and livestreaming child abuse the previous September.
She said a search was carried out at his then-home in Lochinver.
Devices seized from the living room, bedroom and hallway contained child sexual abuse material.
Videos recorded during Skype calls were found and in some of them Campbell’s face was visible on a small window on a computer screen as the abuse was livestreamed to him.
He could also be seen and heard to type messages onto a laptop.
The advocate depute said a Skype account with the name ‘gary24pucket’ and the full name ‘Gary Campbell’ was also found.
She said records of payments to adults in the Philippines were recovered.
Accused ‘directed’ videos
The prosecutor said: “In videos and chat logs, the accused provides directions to those acting in the Philippines to assault the children.
“For example, on one occasion during the live streaming of the assaults, the accused advises those broadcasting the livestream he is having difficulty seeing the children, which results in the children and adults repositioning themselves to enable the accused to see what is being done to the children.”
The advocate depute said it indicated Campbell was not only watching the assaults being committed on children in “real time” but was directing adults in the Philippines to assault them.
She said most of the offending Campbell has now admitted was committed on an “art and part” basis “with the accused present at his home address and the art and part actor referred to in each charge in the Philippines”.
Videos cost as little as £10
During the first assault caught on video he sent a payment for £15.96 to a Filipina who said a girl estimated to be eight or nine years of age would provide a “show”.
The woman then exposed and molested the child.
In an assault on another child – who police estimated to be aged nine or 10 – Campbell told the same woman to get the naked girl to blow him kisses and instructed the woman to perpetrate vile acts on the youngster.
In June 2014 Campbell paid another woman £10.12 to appear naked with a girl and molest her.
He is told the girl “is going on seven”.
The prosecutor said: “He states she looks younger than seven and asked ‘what is the youngest you can get me’?”
Campbell made a payment of £30.33 in July 2014 before the rape of two nine-year-old girls by an adult male.
He said that was a lot for him but he wanted to see it so much.
Prison ‘inevitable’
The court heard first offender Campbell was previously a water treatment operative and was a retained firefighter.
The judge, Lord Beckett, remanded him in custody for the preparation of a background report before sentencing next month.
He said a jail sentence was inevitable and told him : “The court takes a very serious view of what are very serious crimes.”
Campbell was placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
