Former Dungannon police inspector admits possessing indecent child images

A former senior police officer who previously denied multiple charges relating to indecent images of children, has changed his plea.

Already a convicted sex-offender, Raymond Keith Lindsay who is 63 and from Killyman Road, Dungannon committed the offences on various dates between 2016 and 2018.

A defence barrister told Dungannon Crown Court he had received a report from the Public Prosecution Service into the offences, and as result requested the charges were put to Lindsay again.

Appearing by video-link from his solicitor’s office, Lindsay admitted 15 counts of making indecent images of a child and five of possessing prohibited images of a child, pleading guilty to each count in turn.

The change in position came just days before he was scheduled to stand trial.

Judge Brian Sherrard QC ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared with sentencing expected to take place next month.

He also ordered Lindsay to sign the Sex-Offender’s Register, the duration of which will be decided at sentencing

Lindsay was remanded on continuing bail of £500.

Just under three years ago he was jailed for trying to lure a child into woods at Castlewellan Forest Park on 26 July 2018,

The victim, who was on a camping holiday with her family, was walking with her four-year-old sibling and became aware Lindsay was following them.

Although unknown to her, he engaged in conversion asking her age.

On replying she was 8 he said, “You’re too young.”

Lindsay then enquired if a priest came to her school but she didn’t reply.

He asked the girl if she would like to take off her underwear.

She refused and he persisted in asking if she wanted to come into the woods and he would take off his underwear and show her his genitals.

The child hurried her sibling away, reporting what occurred to her mother, who raised the alarm.

Meanwhile Lindsay cycled into the woods.

The Park Ranger was also alerted who discovered a white van on the site. This was registered to Lindsay who was arrested at his home that night but claimed “Not to have left the house all day.”

He then said he had taken his mother to Banbridge for lunch, but she denied being with him at all.

When this was put to Lindsay he contended his mother had “memory problems” thereafter providing no commen

The court heard as a result of arrest for these matters Lindsay, who had been released from prison for similar offending in 2016, was recalled to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

An application for parole was refused.

Defence counsel conceded there are very relevant convictions on record, the first in 1993

Lindsay, it was heard, is highly intelligent, performing well at school and university. He joined the RUC in 1988, quickly moving up the scale and becoming an inspector in 1993.

But shortly after attaining this rank, he was arrested for his first sexualised offending.He was jailed and on release a similar incident occurred in 1996 for which he was also jailed.

On release there was again further offending in 2012 with Lindsay serving another prison sentence, from which he was released in October 2016.

Defence counsel said it was difficult to know how someone of his client’s intelligence and achievement “Could have crashed like this.”

The judge on that occasion remarked, “Probably something to do with offending against children.”

The defence said when pressed on his mindset at the time of the latest offending Lindsay claimed, “I was in desperation … I didn’t care anymore … I thought I’d be better off in prison.”

He was first jailed in 1994 for 16 sex offences, including gross indecency and indecent exposure having been arrested after high-speed chase through Belfast.

A court was later told Lindsay used his position as an RUC Inspector to target vulnerable victims. He would approach schoolgirls and ask them if they needed help, before abusing them.

As well as being an RUC inspector, Lindsay was also a staff officer to the Deputy Chief Constable.