Paedophile flagged down police car to confess serial abuse of children

A self-confessed paedophile who subjected four children aged between five and 13 to depraved sexual abuse over an 11-year period has been jailed.

Serial predator Craig McAvoy will spend nine years behind bars before being monitored in the community for three years following his release.

His name will remain on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life and he has been barred from ever contacting his victims again.

As he was sentenced at the High Court in Livingston, a member of the large group of victims and their parents in the public gallery shouted at him: “I hope you f***ing rot in hell.”

Ross Yuill, defending, said an unusual feature of the case was that McAvoy had flagged down a police car to confess to being a paedophile.

He said: “When he spoke to the police he appeared to make a confession regarding the offences.

“He presents at the age of 33 with no criminal history. His concern is he’s essentially ruined his life by his involvement in these offences.”

He said McAvoy claimed that he had thrown a mobile phone containing video and still images of him abusing his victims into a river before handing himself in.

Passing sentence, Judge Lord Mulholland praised the bravery of the children and their parents for speaking out about the “gross” nature of the repeated abuse.

He described the victim impact statements he had read as “heartbreaking”.

He told McAvoy: “These young children would have looked up to you for protection and guidance.

“What they got instead was sexual abuse of the most depraved kind.

“What you did corrupted their innocence and early childhood years.

“You have robbed them of their childhood and caused or potentially caused them psychological damage.”

Turning to the victims, he told them: “You are so brave to speak out”.

He also praised the great fortitude of their parents in supporting their children in the most trying of circumstances.

He said: “It should not be lost that what happened has had a terrible effect on you.

“You are so brave to support your children – the victims – in the way you have, whilst dealing with the effects that it has had on you.”

He said many victims and survivors blamed themselves for what happened and felt guilty or ashamed.

This could also apply to parents for not preventing abuse happening to their child.

However, he added: “You should all remember that it was not your fault and you are not to blame.

“Sexual abuse is predatory, often happens in the shadows where the young victims are groomed, threatened or conditioned not to speak out.

“It often takes many years for what happened to come to light.”

The first victim of McAvoy’s abuse was a girl aged between six and 11, starting when the accused was 21 years old. He began sexually abusing a second young girl aged between five and ten when he was 23 years old.

Four charges involved a boy aged between nine and 13 years old and began when McAvoy was 27. The latest offences were committed against a schoolboy who was aged between seven and ten and continued until McAvoy turned 32.

The judge told the accused: “The only person to blame for what happened is the perpetrator, you Craig McAvoy.

“You will live with the shame of what you did for the rest of your life.

“You are a predatory sexual abuser of young children.”

He imposed a cumulative extended sentence of 12 years, with a custodial part of nine years’ imprisonment, backdated to February 26, 2025, when he was first remanded in custody by the court.

In addition, he made non-harassment orders banning the accused from approaching or contacting any of the complainers for life.

He said the Crown would check with the police to ensure that any footage on McAvoy’s phone had been destroyed and not copied to online cloud services to reassure the victims and their parents.