A “hardened” Fife paedophile was caught downloading twisted child abuse files just months after being released from jail.
Deviant Paul Scally, 45, began downloading vile files in November 2023, having only been liberated from prison that July.
Scally was subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order during some of his offending, having previously jailed a decade ago for sex offences against a child.
He was labelled a “hardened offender” by the sheriff who jailed him again and ensured he will be under social work supervision once he is released.
Hours of abuse
At an earlier hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court, prosecutor Joanne Ritchie said: “Police executed a search warrant at the home of the accused on August 29 2024.
“The accused was not present and entry was forced with the assistance of a council joiner.
“A full search was carried out and three items were seized from the accused’s bedroom floor.
“They were two hard drives and a laptop. Child sexual abuse material was found.”
A total of 24 video files were found, with a run-time totalling more than five-and-a-half hours.
They featured girls as young as four being sexually abused.
Months on remand
Scally, who has been on remand since September 2, admitted that between November 2023 and August 2024, he took or made and possessed indecent images of children at his home in Newburgh.
His solicitor Calum Harris said: “He’s clearly built up a record of similar offences.
“Ultimately the number of images and videos found is fairly low.
“He has spent a significant amount of time in custody.”
Sheriff Gregor Murray jailed Scally for 20 months and placed him on the sex offenders register for five years.
The sheriff backdated Scally’s sentence to September and ordered him to be subject to post-release supervision for a year.
He told Scally: “You have a brief but highly analogous record of offending.
“You were only released from custody in July 2023. You almost immediately commenced offending again.
“It’s quite clear you’re a hardened offender who has no intention of desisting.”
Agency worker Scally was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted in 2015 of sexual offences against a child under the age of 13.
Then, in 2022, he admitted flouting notification requirements that come with being on the sex offenders register by jetting off to Canary island Fuertaventura.
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