A professional photographer on trial over his conduct in relation to 12 women has been accused of moving into fashion photography as a means to gain “unfettered access” to young females.
Simon ‘Sid’ Scott is facing a series of sexual assault and indecent behaviour charges – with many of the claims against him alleged to have taken place during photo shoots.
The police investigation into Scott’s alleged crimes saw cybercrime officers sift through hundreds of thousands of his photographs, with 150,000 deemed to contain eroticism or nudity.
Scott, of Sunnyside Road, Aberdeen, denies all the charges against him.
Photographer accused of studio sexual assault
During cross-examination by fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar, she quizzed Scott over his professionalism in relation to one woman, then 19, who he invited to a photo shoot in 2014.
The woman, now a solicitor, told the jury that after arriving for an outdoor shoot, Scott suggested they go to his studio in nearby Belmont Street.
She claimed that after taking a large number of photographs in an outfit she’d agreed to wear, Scott then requested she put on a sexy Santa outfit.
The woman, now 28, wept as she told jurors Scott got her to lie on the ground before kneeling over her and sexually assaulting her by forcing his fingers inside her underwear.
Ms MacVicar suggested to Scott, then 35, that any young woman attending her first photoshoot would expect to meet a “professional man” who would make her feel “at ease”.
“You were an older man who led her to a locked building and you sexually assaulted her, didn’t you, Mr Scott?” she said.
“I did not,” he replied.
Ms MacVicar continued: “If the jury believes her, what you did was no accident, it was deliberate?”
Scott told her: “I don’t agree with that”.
Pressing him, Ms MacVicar suggested that, under the guise of taking photographs, Scott manoeuvred himself between the girl’s legs and sexually assaulted her.
“That did not happen,” he said.
The fiscal also accused him more broadly of acting in a “calculated way” in order to “be in the vicinity of young women’s bodies”.
And she also suggested that the reason for him moving from music and dance photography into fashion was that it allowed him “unfettered access” to young females.
“I do not agree with that, no,” he replied.
Scott – who worked as a full-time photographer from 2017 – had earlier told the jury that sex offence allegations that surfaced online in 2020 had “destroyed” his life and career.
‘I’m not going to get you to admit it, am I?’
The fiscal depute also quizzed Scott over allegations he invited a young woman to his home in 2008, where she claims she woke to find him sexually assaulting her.
Earlier in the trial, Scott denied knowing the woman despite her identifying him by name, telling police his address, his job and picking him out at an identity parade.
“You let her stay at your house and then said she could sleep on the sofa before pretending that you couldn’t find a duvet,” Ms MacVicar said.
“You then indicated she could sleep in the bed and as she fell asleep and later woke up to you touching her breasts and vagina.”
Scott denied the incident took place.
“You do not accept that you sexually assaulted this woman and no matter how hard I try I’m not going to get you to admit it, am I?” the fiscal asked.
“You’re not, no,” Scott replied.
The trial, before Sheriff Morag McLaughlin, continues.
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