Victims of bed-hopping sexual predator who targeted five women speak out after he walks free

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Victims of a bed-hopping sexual predator who walked free after targeting five women have spoken of their horror.Steven Puttock crept into two of his victims’ bedrooms and assaulted them while they slept as he carried out a series of vile sex attacks over a 14-month period.But last week a sheriff told the 25-year-old, from Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, that jailing him wouldn’t help him or his victims.He was instead sentenced to a “top-end community disposal” and ordered to pay each of the women £500 compensation.One victim, who was assaulted in her own home after Puttock crept into her bed, told the Record: “We’re the victims, not him.“To pay us £500 for what he has done to us all doesn’t cut it.“He’s free to get on with his life but we’re going to be affected by this for the rest of ours.”The electrician admitted assaulting the five women at houses in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth between January 2020 and March the following year, with one victim being targeted on three occasions and another twice.Airdire Sheriff Court heard they were all considered friends and “like family” to him.Puttock had a girlfriend at the time and apologised via text and Facebook messages to two of the women, using exactly the same words to both.Sheriff Joseph Hughes said the pervert told a psychologist his offending “would likely have escalated to a more serious level” if he had continued down the same path.He was assessed as at a medium risk of re-offending, but the sheriff told the first offender: “A custodial sentence will not in itself assist you in addressing your offending.“Sentencing you to a modest period in prison will not help either the victims or society at large.”Puttock was sentenced to three years of supervision, 300 hours unpaid work