Child sex abuser's crimes 'plumbed abyss of depravity'

Benjamin Young sexually abused 10 children and one woman

A paedophile whose crimes were described by a judge as plumbing "the very abyss of depravity" has been given a life sentence.

Benjamin Young sexually abused 10 children as young as two and filmed and distributed footage of the attacks.

He raped one victim dozens of times between January 2021 and December 2022.

Young, 43, pleaded guilty to 32 offences at the High Court in Edinburgh and was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison.

Judge Lord Arthurson also imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction on Young.

It means he will only ever be released if the parole board decides it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public to keep him in jail.

The judge said Young's crimes were of the "utmost gravity" and that he had inflicted abuse on the most defenceless members of society.

Lord Arthurson added: "This, in my view, is one of the worst cases of its kind to come before the high court.

"Your offending has plumbed the very abyss of depravity."

Private chat rooms

The court had heard that all of Young's child victims were aged under 13 at the time.

A further victim was an adult female.

Nearly all of the attacks took place in the Argyll and Bute area.

Cybercrime experts discovered Young was active on the dark web where he created and moderated online private chat rooms to swap child pornography.

When police raided his home, almost 20,000 indecent images and videos were found.

Advocate depute Kath Harper, prosecuting, told the court: "The accused's offending encompasses - but is not limited to - voyeurism, sexual assault and rape involving young children.

"It also includes the creation and distribution of indecent videos and images of children, including videos of the accused raping and sexually abusing children."

The judge made non-harassment orders banning Young from contacting or attempting to contact his victims.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Following sentencing, Det Insp Adrian Ure of Police Scotland's National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: "The nature and significant extent of Benjamin Young's sexual offending was truly appalling.

"Young is directly responsible for creating demand which contributes to the dreadful sexual abuse and suffering of the children in the images and videos he was creating and sharing."