​More support needs to be made available says charity

Child sex abuse prevention charity Stop It Now Scotland has called for greater support for families of paedophiles.

The charity made the call after the ex-wife of a man convicted for possessing child porn said she was left homeless after turning him in to the police.

Peggy Buchanan was married for 16 years before she uncovered her husband's secret.

She had to leave her home, became homeless, and now wants more help for women like her to be considered victims of their partner's actions.

But Buchanan was considered to have voluntarily made herself homeless, which made getting housing help from her council very difficult.

Her situation was compounded by the fact she was unable to take out an injunction against her husband because they had no children and he had committed no act of violence towards her.

That's what she now wants to change.

She said: "I tried to move somewhere else and went to the housing office - I was told I had to go back to the town where I was living.

"The support is limited. I only became a vulnerable witness after he declared to the police that I had done it. I was then offered vulnerable witness protection.

"Very little therapy was available, nobody knew what to do with me.”

Stuart Allardyce, from Stop It Now Scotland, said: "In our Scottish office we had about 60 calls last year from people in Peggy's situation looking for support.

"There is not enough support for partners and family members, just as there is not enough for people with worrying behaviour online."

But he said people should not be afraid to come forward and report these crimes.

"What we see in the courts is the tip of the iceberg.

"Any family member can call Stop It Now and we will try to help them through it."

Her husband was given community service and ordered to attend a course on online activity.