ROBERT LOWE COYLTON PERVERT JAILED FOR ONLINE CHILD IMAGE OFFENSES

In September 2011, a disturbing case involving online child exploitation led to the imprisonment of Robert Lowe, a resident of Coylton. Lowe, aged 48, was found guilty of uploading and distributing indecent images of a young girl, which included photographs of her face superimposed onto pornographic material on the internet.

The investigation revealed that Lowe had taken images of the girl from her Facebook profile, tampered with them, and then uploaded these altered images onto adult websites, specifically Fabswingers.com. The young girl was deeply distressed when she received a private message through her social media account from a stranger questioning why she had removed her photo from the adult site. Concerned, she confided in her mother, and together they accessed Fabswingers.com to discover that her face had been superimposed onto explicit images of adult women.

Authorities were promptly alerted, and digital forensic experts examined Lowe’s devices. They confirmed that Lowe, who works as a contracts manager for a steel company, was responsible for the illicit activity. When questioned, Lowe cooperated and provided a full account of his actions. Police seized his computer and a USB stick, which contained folders labeled ‘re please fake’ and ‘re please please fake,’ filled with both modified and unmodified images.

Lowe admitted to engaging in online chats with others, allowing them to use the images to create further modifications. He acknowledged that this activity had been ongoing for several months. The forensic analysis uncovered 19 separate images of the girl stored in various galleries on his computer, along with an additional nine images—both altered and original—on the USB device.

At Ayr Sheriff Court, Lowe pleaded guilty to charges of taking or permitting the taking of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child at his residence in Cumnock between July 16 and September 16 of the previous year. His defense lawyer, Peter Lockhart, explained to Sheriff John Montgomery that Lowe maintained he did not create the images himself but was driven by curiosity. Lockhart stated, “He effectively downloaded them onto a USB stick and made them available on the internet for others to do with as they pleased. He concedes and accepts that this was utterly wrong and unacceptable.”

Following the hearing, Sheriff Montgomery sentenced Lowe to a year in prison, complemented by a two-year supervision order. Additionally, Lowe was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely, reflecting the severity of his actions and the ongoing risk posed by such offenses.