January 2015

Notorious paedophile cries in court as he’s jailed again

A twisted former teacher who was living in Barrhead under a new identity sobbed as he was jailed for being caught with paedophilia that was sent to him by like-minded pervert. 

Gary Anderson – who changed his name to Simeon Hope to escape his vile past – was locked up for two years when he appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court.

He was also informed he will be monitored for two years upon his release from prison – and will be sent back to jail if he offends after being released from custody.

In October it was revealed that Anderson – who once boasted he had worked with “really hot kids” – had been jailed three times while in his native England over sickening stashes of videos and photo albums featuring kids.

He changed his name to Simeon Hope and fled his Derby home, taking up residence in Barrhead’s Dalmeny Drive.

Just weeks after we revealed Anderson’s true identity and sordid past he was arrested for breaching the terms of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

The 49-year-old had been placed on the court order, which banned him from owning anything which allowed him access to the internet, due to his fascination with illegal pornography featuring children. After our expose he was moved from his small East Renfrewshire Council flat – which is just a stone’s throw from Neilston and a fifteen-minute walk from every Barrhead school – to a flat in Clarkston.

And that’s where he was arrested on November 4 last year when his social worker and a police officer found a tablet and a laptop hidden in his bedroom. The items were seized by police and, when searched by computer experts, the disturbing images was found.

When he appeared in court last week to be sentenced for breaking his SOPO and downloading child abuse images, his lawyer said only one pornographic image – a full-frontal naked picture of a pre-pubescent boy – had been found. And the lawyer said that Hope had been sent the image by a paedophile he met online.

Colin Williamson, defending, explained: “He found an internet relationship with another male person who had an interest in children. “The image was sent to him by that person.” Williamson said that Hope had breached his SOPO by buying the computer so he had something to do in his spare time.

He said: “The purpose of him buying the computing equipment was because he has an interest in music and was going to record his own music. “It was simply to provide a diversion for him. “He had the equipment for more than six months and only one image was found to have been downloaded by him.”

He said Hope now had empathy for the victims of the abuse in the images and videos he was so fond of.

Sheriff Robert Fife ruled there was only one way he could deal with Hope – by sending him to jail.

But he said he did not think he had to send Hope’s case to the High Court so Hope could be made the subject of a lifelong restriction order, as had been advised by social workers. He said: “I’ve given this very careful consideration.

I think there is still some positivity in the future for you. “You’ve got to find a way to stop committing these offences and move forward. I’m slightly taking my own risk by not doing this.”

The move means that, once Hope’s two-year license period is over and he gets out of prison, he will be able to own computers and internet-abled devices again. 

October 2014

Convicted paedophile boasted of working with ‘really hot kids’ during his time as a teacher is living secretly in Scotland

A PERVERT teacher who boasted of working with “really hot kids” is living secretly in Scotland.

Twisted paedophile Gary Anderson has been jailed three times in England.

And he mocked attempts to treat him behind bars, saying he concealed his real thoughts in order to appear a reformed character.

Former music teacher Anderson, 48, who has changed his name to Simeon Hope, is now living in Barrhead, Renfrewshire.

His council property is within a 15-minute walk of the town’s six schools. And his new neighbours are completely unaware of his sickening past.

The serial offender admits he is sexually attracted to girls aged between eight and 12.

In online chats, Anderson, a former Green Party candidate, bragged to fellow paedophiles: “I used to be a teacher and met a lot of really hot kids.”

He was jailed in 2000 in his native County Durham and in 2003 and 2010 in the Midlands.

He was barred from working with children for life after his 2003 offence and is the subject of a sexual offences prevention order.

When he was interviewed by police about his most recent offence, he ridiculed his sex offender treatment, saying it was “run by fools” and that he concealed his true thoughts.

Prosecutor Grace Hale told the court at his 2010 trial that computer experts found evidence he had been active on child sex websites.

She said: “On one chat log, he wrote ‘I used to be a teacher and met a lot of really hot kids but little happened because I was too aware of the risks here in the UK.’

“In another, talking about his prison treatment programme, he wrote, ‘My strategy is to tell these lovely, caring people what they like to hear. My real thoughts I keep to myself and for here. I want to be regarded as low risk so I can lead a more normal life’.”

An East Renfrewshire Council spokeswoman would only say it was the authority’s legal duty to help with the supervision of offenders in their area.

Anderson was not available for comment.

Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman Graeme Pearson said: “It should be an offence for people convicted of such crimes to change their names to avoid identification.

“Three jail sentences in a decade reflects a determination to reoffend.”

In June, our sister paper, the Sunday Mail, revealed record numbers of sex offenders are changing their names.

Paedophiles and rapists created new identities in a bid to stop neighbours and workmates uncovering their secret pasts.

August 2010

Serial pervert was attracted to girls as young as 8

A SERIAL pervert, who admitted he was sexually attracted to girls aged 8 to 12 after police found 810 indecent images in his Derby home, has been jailed.

Derby Crown Court heard that former music teacher and Green Party candidate Gary Anderson had been convicted in 2000 and 2003 for similar offences.

Anderson, 44, who changed his name from Simeon Hope following his arrest in 2002, wrote an open letter to The Northern Echo in 1998 – before any of his convictions – complaining that “children were over-protected by society”.

But when the 44-year-old was interviewed by police about his latest offence, he mocked his previous prison sex offender treatment programme, saying it was “run by fools” and that he “kept his real thoughts to himself.”

Recorder Peter Joyce jailed Anderson for nine months and issued him for the first time with a sexual offences prevention order, meaning police could monitor him more closely on his release from prison.

He said: “He blames society’s attitudes rather than believing he is in the wrong. Here is a man who fantasises about young girls in a perverted manner.

“He says he feels persecuted (for his urges) in the same way that gay people did. Simply having these urges, having these thoughts, is wrong.”

Grace Hale, for the prosecution, told the court that police swooped on Anderson’s home in Osmaston Road and discovered the images on two laptops and a memory stick.

She said: “A police examiner also searched for chat logs and found evidence of chat room activity on child sex websites.

“On one chat log the defendant wrote ‘I used to be a teacher and met a lot of really hot kids but little happened because I was too aware of the risks here in the UK’. In another (talking about his prison treatment programme) he wrote, ‘My strategy is to tell these lovely, caring people what they like to hear. My real thoughts I keep to myself and for here.

“I want to be regarded as low risk, so that I can lead a more normal life’.

“He was arrested and admitted downloading the images and that he had a sexual attraction to children.”

Anderson admitted seven counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing them.

The court heard that Anderson was caught with more than 5,000 indecent images on a computer and three photo albums in 1999 for which he was jailed for 18 months by Durham Crown Court.

After being released he was then sentenced to another 18 months by Derby Crown Court and disqualified from working with children for life after officers discovered 149 indecent images again on a computer.

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Paul Stevenson, of Derbyshire police, said: “The nine-month sentence is acceptable as the judge has to stick to guidelines. But the important thing to us is the sex offenders’ prevention order, the exact conditions and details of which we are waiting to find out.”