By ALEXANDER LAWRIE FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL
Published: 03:12 GMT, 15 January 2025 | Updated: 03:46 GMT, 15 January 2025
A Scottish rugby team manager has been found guilty of sending indecent images to youth players and making sexual comments to them.
Steven Dyer sent sexual videos and pictures to schoolboys taking part in a training trip to Wales.
The 27-year-old posted the images to a Snapchat account that the boys had access to.
One player said Dyer had sent him an image of him engaging in sexual intercourse and also made remarks about the size of his private parts.
Dyer was arrested and charged after a concerned parent was made aware of the messages and contacted a teacher at the child’s school in Edinburgh.
Dyer, of St Boswells, Roxburghshire, was subsequently suspended by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) and sacked from his position with Lloyds Banking Group when bosses at the financial giant were made aware of the allegations.
He denied any wrongdoing, claiming the communication was part of ‘rugby banter’ and what he had posted was ‘nothing of a sexual nature’.
Following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court this week, he was found guilty of three offences of intentional indecent communication between February and October 2023.
Sheriff Daniel Kelly said he found the complainers to be ‘credible and reliable’ while giving their evidence and that Dyer had attempted to ‘minimise his behaviour’ while on the stand.
Steven Dyer sent sexual videos and pictures to schoolboys while they were part of a Scotland youth squad on a training camp a trip in Wales in 2023
Edinburgh Sheriff Court
He placed him on the sex offenders register on an interim basis and deferred full sentence for the preparation of reports.
The trial heard from three victims from the Scotland youth squad who said Dyer had posted inappropriate content on the group’s Snapchat.
The communication had left one player ‘significantly affected by the whole situation’ and he had told Dyer to stop sending the material.
A second player said he was left ‘embarrassed’ and considered what had been sent to be ‘inappropriate’.
The court heard Dyer was team manager of the Scotland youth squad and his duties included making travel and accommodation arrangements for the training camp in Wales.
Dyer told the trial he was currently working as a hotel manager and had lost his employment with Lloyds Banking Group as a result of the police investigation into the allegations in February last year.
The court heard he was part of a Snapchat group set up by one of the players and they sent each other ‘rude’ messages that he believed to be ‘friendly banter’.
Dyer denied there was any sexual motivation to him sending the images or making comments to the youth players.
He said he had not received any safeguarding advice from the SRU regarding working with young players.
The SRU said Dyer was not a full-time employee but a paid contracted volunteer and he was ‘removed from all rugby activities in October 2023, when the first complaint was made and his suspension is now permanent’.
Share or comment on this article:
Scottish rugby team manager is found guilty of sending indecent images to youth players and making sexual comments to them
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source linkThe post Scottish rugby team manager is found guilty of sending indecent images to youth players and making sexual comments to them first appeared on Rugby 247.
Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-01-15 03:49:42
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.