PERVERT TOOK ‘SINISTER’ PHOTOS OF YOUNGSTERS
A paedophile from Fife was apprehended with disturbing images of young children at a taxi rank during police investigations into child exploitation crimes.The offending material possessed by Paul Finnie included mainly images of girls aged from one to 15 years old.
His illegal collection of videos amounted to approximately 36 hours of footage.
The 37-year-old resident of Methil appeared before Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit guilt on two counts.
Between August 1, 2011, and September 16 of the previous year, he downloaded indecent images of children.
Additionally, from March 18, 2024, to July 7, 2025, Finnie engaged in threatening or abusive conduct by secretly photographing females, including a girl aged nine and ten whose name was specified in court documents, over the period mentioned.
As a result of the investigation, Finnie has been placed on the sexual offenders register.
During a police search of his home on September 16 last year, officers found evidence of abuse.
Prosecutor Sarah Smith explained that Finnie’s devices contained child sexual abuse material, which was confirmed after a preliminary review.
He admitted during police interviews to downloading such images, confessing he was sexually attracted to children and that he had taken pictures of a specific girl for sexual satisfaction.
Finnie also acknowledged photographing young children at a taxi rank, focusing on their buttocks, which he found arousing.
Analysis of his devices uncovered over 16,000 images and videos, including more than 1,000 explicit images and over 150 videos rated in the most graphic category.
Court proceedings revealed that one of his hard drives contained a folder labelled “I’m going to jail,” which held most of the illegal material.
It is believed that Finnie primarily downloaded content via the BitTorrent network on a laptop, then transferred these files to USB drives to view later.
Police also discovered covert photographs taken of children and adults without their consent, some of which involved zooming in on the child's private areas.
Certain images of a girl, captured without her knowledge, were stored in a folder named “my voyeur photos,” created between March 2024 and July 2025.
Finnie’s lawyer, Lucy Boylen, emphasised that he has no prior convictions and has been cooperative with supervision and social work during his bail.
The sheriff, Robert More, acknowledged the seriousness of the charges while noting Finnie’s positive compliance, including perfect attendance at scheduled appointments.
Despite this, he warned Finnie could face imprisonment, highlighting the particularly malicious nature of the voyeurism charges.
Sentencing has been postponed until July 14, at which point the length of Finnie’s inclusion on the sex offenders register will be decided.
