Predatory police officer locked up after raping woman and teenage girl in Shetland

A predatory police officer has been locked up after being convicted of raping a woman and a teenage girl in Shetland.Carmichael John Williamson, known as John, was remanded in custody after a jury found him guilty of three charges of rape and a further sexual offence involving a 15-year-old girl.The 32-year-old, of Burra, had been on bail during his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, where he denied the allegations.He looked visibly upset as he was led from the dock in handcuffs following the guilty verdicts.Judge John Morris KC remanded Williamson in custody while a background report is prepared ahead of sentencing later this year.The judge described it as a 'very distressing and anxious' case and told jurors counselling was available if required. John Williamson has been locked up after being convicted of raping a woman and a teenage girlAdvocate depute David Dickson KC told the court Williamson had no previous convictions or pending cases.Williamson, who has been suspended from Police Scotland since January 2024, was found guilty of having sex with a 15-year-old girl on various occasions between April and September 2014 at locations across the islands.He was also convicted of raping the girl on one occasion between April 2014 and October 2015.Williamson, who served as a police constable for more than a decade before being suspended from duty, was also found guilty of twice raping the adult woman. He was also convicted of raping the woman again in April 2022 when she was intoxicated and incapable of consenting and slapping her face.The woman, aged 29, told the court that during one attack he took off her jeans and she was bent over an armchair during the sexual assault which Williamson called ‘kinky sex’.She said the second sex attack happened after a wedding celebration at a community hall which they’d both attended. John Williamson arriving at High Court in EdinburghAdmitting she had been drinking heavily, she told the court: ‘I can’t say I felt truly in control of my actions.’The woman said further sex took place at a house and she was also slapped.She said: ‘A lot of it is very hazy from the amount of alcohol I drank.’And she pointed out that at that point she was ‘too intoxicated to give consent’ having downed prosecco, gin and shots.Williamson denied that there was any sexual contact with the woman on the night of the wedding and said: ‘We were outside. At the time I was still vaping and she was still smoking.’He also denied that he had sex with the teenage girl before she was aged 16 and that he recorded her performing a sex act on him and added: ‘I have no recollection of ever recording any of our sexual encounters.’The victim said she was in contact with Williamson when she was 15 and he was aged 19 and they started having sex when she was 15.She said that on one occasion he had sex with her without consent, adding: ‘It was extremely painful. I was crying and in a lot of pain.’The woman, now aged 28, said Williamson had a tablet computer and used it to record her carrying out a sex act on him.Married Williamson had originally faced a total of nine charges, but five were withdrawn by the Crown during proceedings and he was acquitted of them.One of them was an allegation that in December 2021 he sent a naked photo of the woman he subjected to rape to another man.The court heard that he was part of a group chat, dubbed ‘swingers’, in which sexual images or videos were shared.Williamson was placed on the sex offenders register.Following the trial, Police Scotland said they first received a report about Williamson’s offending in December 2023 when he was a serving officer.The allegations related to events which happened between 2020 and 2022.During the course of the investigation, further offences were reported from between 2014 and 2015 when he was a special constable.Williamson was arrested, charged and suspended from duty on January 10, 2024.Detective Superintendent Stevie Bertram, of the force’s public protection unit, said: ‘Reports of violence against women and girls are rising and it is of the utmost importance for Police Scotland to play its part in tackling this national emergency.‘Our thoughts are very much with the victims in this case, and I wholeheartedly commend their strength in reporting these crimes. This was the crucial first step in bringing Williamson to justice.‘Williamson will now face the consequences of his actions and today’s outcome should highlight our determination to relentlessly pursue the perpetrators in these investigations.’