By Rory Cassidy

A NEILSTON pervert who searched online for images of an American actress being sexually abused when she was a child is facing jail.

Ross McCullagh searched for child abuse images of Selma Blair at the home he shared with his mother in the village’s Hillside Crescent.

He used the search term “13yo Selma Blair” when trying to find horrific images to give him his fix.

Ms Blair, 45, starred in Scream 2, Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde and the Hellboy franchise.

McCullagh, 33, was snared by Police Scotland’s Operation NOCAP – the National Online Child Abuse Prevention campaign.

And, when police computing experts examined his computer, they discovered he’d been searching for child abuse images of the American actress.

The details emerged when McCullagh appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court for a pre-trial hearing.

McCullagh had been facing trial on two charges – downloading child abuse images and possessing the banned filth.

But he struck a deal with prosecutors which saw him plead guilty to a charge of downloading illicit images, in exchange for the possession charge being dropped.

He pleaded guilty to breaching Section 52(1)(a) of the Civic Government (Scotland) (Act) 1995 by downloading 11 images between September 13 and 14, 2014.

Procurator Fiscal Depute Fiona Holligan said undercover police went to his home on November 23 last year, some 50 months after he’d downloaded the files, to arrest him.

The prosecutor explained: “Entry was allowed to the property by the accused’s mother.

“They noted who was present and identified themselves as plain clothes officers.

“The accused said, ‘I know exactly what this is about, I’ll take you straight to the computer’.”

An HP tower unit was seized and examined by computer experts, who found he had downloaded 11 images on the day in question – leading to officers arriving at his home Police computer experts examined the HP tower unit and found child abuse images had been downloaded on it, and that McCullagh had searched and viewed pornographic images of teenage girls.

One of the images he was caught with showed a 14-year-old girl performing a sex act on a grown man, while another showed a 12-year-old girl flashing her privates.

Sentence for the offence was deferred until November for background reports and McCullagh, who moved to Thornliebank following his arrest, could be jailed for the offence when he returns to the dock.