Cameron Downing, 24, of Willowbrae, Scotland, who identifies as nonbinary, has been found guilty by the High Court in Edinburg of sexually preying on multiple young victims and blackmailing them. The victims were both male and female, the Telegraph reported. Downing was refused bail and will remain in custody until sentencing.
Police Scotland launched a probe into Downing and discovered he had been preying on young victims since he was 16. One of the male victims, who is now 22, testified during the trial that Downing threatened to make false rape allegations against him if he refused Downing's sexual advances. The incident left the victim feeling "trapped" and "terrified," adding that Downing had also threatened to make false rape allegations to his family, friends, and employer.
Another female victim, who is now 24, testified that Downing was verbally abusive to her at a New Year's party in 2018, making disparaging comments about her weight, which caused her to drink and become highly intoxicated. Downing persuaded her to go upstairs and undress so she could shower, the victim said. The victim claimed that she woke up with bruises believed to be caused by Downing.
Furthermore, during court testimony, another female victim said that Downing "would touch me inappropriately, like groping. It was mostly my breasts that he would touch, maybe some groping elsewhere. A lot of it I have filtered out."
Downing denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he has been battling "complex" mental health issues, which his lawyers argued as "evidence" during the trial. He will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on July 16.
Downing was an official in the SNP's London Branch and worked as an NHS contact tracer during the pandemic. He also was a former drama student and acted in Edinburgh Fringe Productions, per the Telegraph. He has a history of inappropriate conduct online, specifically violent rhetoric towards women who are critical of gender ideology.
Downing's actions have been criticized by world-renowned author JK Rowling after he wrote on X that he wanted to "beat the f-ck out of some terfs and transphobes."Terf is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist, a term that is used to disparage women like Rowling who want to safeguard women's-only spaces and do not believe that men who identify as women are truly female.
