Edinburgh hotel worker caught taking pics of child at swimming pool moans press coverage cost him his job

Peter Boniface snapped the disgusting images of the half-naked seven-year-old child on his mobile phone at Dunbar Leisure Centre, East Lothian, in August 2022.

The 21-year-old was spotted taking the pics by a member of the public and after staff were informed the police were alerted to the incident. During a search of his former home in Kelso, Scottish Borders, officers then discovered a total of 36 child abuse images of victims between five and 14-years-old being sexually abused by adults stored on a mobile phone.

Boniface, from Edinburgh, appeared at the city’s sheriff court for sentencing today, Friday, June 6, where his lawyer moaned that press coverage of the case had cost his client his employment and tenancy.

Defence agent Mark Harrower said the hotel worker had been “under enormous stress” due to a delay in the case calling at court and “isolation and spending too much time on the internet” had led to his offending.

Mr Harrower said: “Now unfortunately as happens in cases like this and as the case gets back into court the matter appeared in the press and there were consequences because of that.

“Mr Boniface has suffered that and it is his own actions and I’m not complaining about it but it is something the court should take into account.

“He has now lost his tenancy, lost his job and at the moment he is penniless and homeless.”

Mr Harrower added: “He has a supportive family who have been standing by him throughout this. It just remains to say the accused bitterly regrets what he did and he assures me and the court he will not be doing it again.”

The lawyer added Boniface, who worked as a housekeeper at a five star luxury hotel in the Borders, has been engaging with the sex offenders organisation Stop It Now.

Sheriff Fergus Thomson imposed an alternative to a custodial sentence and placed Boniface under supervision for 24 months and ordered him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

The sheriff also issued a conduct requirement that bans him being in the company of anyone under the age of 16 without permission and placed him on the sex offenders register for two years.

Peter Boniface, 21, escaped a jail sentence for his crime. | Alexander Lawrie

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Previously the court was told the child had attended the swimming complex with his parents and was getting dressed before leaving the building on August 20, 2022.

Boniface was seen loitering in the area while fully dressed and holding a mobile phone before a witness caught him peering over the cubicle next to the child with the phone in his hand.

Staff were informed and when police officers arrived at the scene Boniface was said to be “extremely nervous and physically shaking”.

Fiscal depute Morgan Beattie told the court the child had been unaware of the incident and Boniface had told officers he had been looking at children online and the “temptation was too much” while he was at the pool.

The court also heard that evidence that Boniface had been in contact with other deviants online had been recovered from his mobile and he had asked for pictures of young boys to be sent to him.

Boniface pleaded guilty to attempting to, or taking, photos of a seven-year-old child doing a private act at Dunbar Leisure Centre, Dunbar, East Lothian, on August 20, 2022. He also admitted to taking, or allowing to be taken, indecent images of children between January 1 and August 20, 2022.