Corrupt East Lothian man, 38 jailed after being caught with despicable images

An East Lothian man faces four years in jail after pleading guilty to possessing indecent images of children.

Anthony McKnight, 38, was jailed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, November 26 2024. Officers searched a property in Haddington in June 2022 and found images on devices belonging to him.

The 38-year-old pled guilty to offences relating to taking, making and possessing indecent images of children.

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Detective Inspector Adrian Ure, of Police Scotland’s National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Anthony McKnight’s offending and behaviour was appalling.

He showed complete and utter contempt for the child victims and the horrific sexual abuse they suffered, in the images he was viewing and sharing. He now faces the consequences of his actions.”

"Any form of child sexual abuse is a serious criminal offence and is a priority for Police Scotland."

"We encourage anyone with concerns about a child at risk of abuse, or a potential victim, to contact Police immediately.”

In November we reported McKnight recorded himself sexually abusing a sleeping child and shared the images with online perverts he was in contact with.

He made the videos involving a young boy he had met while on a family holiday in Wales in 2023. McKnight produced four short recordings of him abusing the youngster as well as taking photos while he carried out a solo sex act.

The photographs were found after police were tipped off he had child abuse images and raided his property.

In 2022, he also admitted to stealing a quantity of cash from a terminally ill pensioner.

He took the money from 84-year-old Kenneth Samuel while employed as a carer in Haddington. For months the pensioner's family started to notice cash going missing from his wallet at his home. The incident was caught on film after the victim's family became suspicious.

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After taking the shocking footage to the police, McKnight was eventually charged and later pled guilty to theft.

Speaking about the incident to Edinburgh Live, one of Kenneth's daughters Caroline said: "My dad lived in Edinburgh all his days until my mum passed away five years ago and my elder sister and I both live in Haddington so we managed to get him a house right opposite the bowling club.

"He moved in there four years ago and my sister Laura was staying with him because he wouldn't have eaten.

"He had prostate cancer previously and we realised he wasn't well at all then he was diagnosed with bowel cancer so we needed someone to come in a few days a week to help him shower and shave so from about February until June Anthony came in and done that. He helped him get changed, took him for a cup of tea and it was fine.

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"Eventually we noticed that he started losing quite a bit of money and was acting odd. We assumed he had given it to the grandkids but my sister has always had these old dog cams to keep an eye on him if he fell or was at home alone. One day she switched it on before Anthony visited and took the red light off it so he wouldn't know it was recording him.

"Clear as day, Anthony was caught going into my dad's drawer right beside where he was sitting and lifting money from what we call my dad's wallet, which was just an old file. He lifted it out, put it in his pocket then left to go to the bathroom or faffed about for a bit."