German man who groomed Perthshire schoolgirl remanded in custody

Uwe Kaiser tried to sneak the 15 year old back to Germany.

Published 23rd Nov 2016

A German man who flew to Scotland to have sex with a schoolgirl he groomed online was caught trying to sneak her back to his Frankfurt home.

The girl was found 500 miles from home with 49-year-old Uwe Kaiser after police launched a nationwide missing persons hunt for her.

Divorced father-of-two Kaiser had been grooming the Perthshire teenager for months despite knowing she was only 15 years old.

He sent her sexually explicit selfies through social media sites including WhatsApp and Skype and persuaded her to send graphic material back to him.

Chemical plant operator Kaiser flew to Scotland to meet the girl in Crieff and persuaded her to leave home and travel back to Frankfurt with him.

Kaiser convinced the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that they could "start a new life together" at his home in Germany.

They boarded an overnight bus from Perth and were eventually discovered in London after desperate police sent the girl a series of text and email messages.

Kaiser was remanded in custody at Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday after he admitted grooming a 15-year-old girl between January and October 2015.

He also admitted that between 1 September and 9 October 2015 he had a number of indecent images of a child at various locations in Scotland. He also admitted breaching a bail order condition not to approach the girl by being in her company in October this year.

Fiscal depute John Malpass told the court: "The evidence comes from the examination of two mobile phones. He is a German national and prior to this incident resided in Frankfurt.

"This came about as a result of her being reported as a missing person on 19 December 2015. That resulted in her being traced with the accused in London on 20 December.

"She met the accused on social media site Omegle in December 2014 and chatted regularly. They moved to WhatsApp and Skype and exchanged details.

"In January 2015 the nature of the chat became more personal and developed a sexual tone. She informed the accused she was 16 and he stated he was 35.

"During January, he suggested travelling to Scotland to meet and she agreed to this. He thereafter travelled to Scotland and stayed for three days. He returned to Germany and remained in frequent contact with her.

"In February 2015 she informed the accused she was 15 years of age. Despite this disclosure he remained in contact and continued to have sexualised chat with her.

"The accused convinced the girl to leave her home in Crieff and move to Germany with him. As time passed she became convinced she should move to Germany."

On 18 December, Kaiser flew from Frankfurt to Edinburgh and made his way to the Perthshire town to meet the girl in the early hours of the morning.

They used the overnight coach to London Victoria. When she arrived she turned on her phone to find messages from the police saying they were concerned for her safety.

She reported to Belgravia police station and Kaiser was arrested. When their phones were analysed scores of indecent images were recovered. The court was told that as she was under 18 she was still considered an "older child" in the eyes of the law.

Solicitor Cliff Culley, defending, said: "There are somewhat unusual circumstances in that she lied to him about her age initially and and he lied to her about his age.

"The images were going both way. However, he does accept that she told him she was 15 at the beginning of 2015. He is a person of previous good character with no convictions."

Sheriff Gillian Wade told Kaiser: "You have committed two serious sexual offences. I will defer sentence for reports and to assess the risk you pose to the public.

"It is clear the legislation is there to protect vulnerable people as much from themselves as from sexual predators. Until I am satisfied about the level of risk you pose I am going to remand you."