Convicted paedophile William Sholdis has been forced to flee a second time after an angry mob torched his car and picketed his home. The Sunday World has revealed the 33-year-old was forced to flee from temporary accommodation in Antrim after protests outside his flat.
It’s the second time he has been forced to move in the space of a year after he had leave his house in Ballynure following his conviction for having indecent images of kids as young as six-years-old.
Sholdis, who the court heard has autism, entered guilty pleas to 18 counts, including making indecent images of children and possessing banned images of children and extreme pornography.
After details of his offending were made public last autumn, he and his family fled their home in Ballynure, which sits directly opposite a green space regularly used by families.
Originally he was handed a 12-month jail sentence but that was overturned on appeal and he was told to serve a three year probation order instead, as well as a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and having to sign the sex offender’s register for ten years.
Now it has been revealed a hate mob targeted his new home in Antrim where he had been placed in a hostel designed for vulnerable people.
His car was torched late at night on April 27th and when police arrived there was an angry stand-off with protesters who slammed the PSNI for not making local residents aware he was living there.
“People in the estate were furious when they found out he’d been placed there, living amongst kids and other vulnerable people,” said a source.
“It seems the protesters set fire to his car because he was in shared accommodation – otherwise they would have torched his house most likely.
“The fire also damaged another car beside it as well as a bin. The cops and the fire brigade turned up and the protesters were shouting at the cops for not informing them about him living there.
“It was pretty angry and threatened to get out of hand but it calmed down and Sholdis moved out.”
In January senior judges ruled that Sholdis should be released from prison and instead ordered to complete three years’ probation.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan described him as a “pathetic figure” who has shown insight into the extent of his crimes.
Sholdis, 33, was arrested after PSNI child protection officers searched his home near Ballyclare in March 2021.
A number of devices were seized, including a laptop fitted with anti-forensics software. Police uncovered nearly 5,000 photographs and videos, along with search terms indicating an interest in indecent images of children.
Some of the pictures were in the most serious category, but there was no evidence that he had shared or uploaded any of the files.
In November last year Sholdis received a 12-month sentence after pleading guilty to a series of charges of making and possessing indecent images .
The original term was split between four months in custody and eight months on licence.
Defence lawyers challenged the sentence imposed, arguing that supervised help in the community would be of greater benefit in dealing with his issues.
Sholdis suffers from autism and was bullied at school, still lived with his parents and has never had an intimate relationship, the Court of Appeal was told.
The payroll administrator originally found the illegal material through a spam email and felt “ashamed” that his actions had helped to support abuse of children.
Barrister Mark Barlow submitted: “He fell down the rabbit hole and, because of his personal characteristics and circumstances, simply couldn’t stop himself.”
His family have since been forced to relocate amid community tensions about the offences.
Counsel for the Public Prosecution Service, Mark Farrell, responded by highlighting the aggravating features in the case.
Images were discovered on six devices as part of offending over a period of 19 months.
Ruling on the appeal, Dame Siobhan stressed the court’s “abhorrence” to crimes related to the abuse of children.
Based on a probation report on Sholdis, however, she found that he has shown genuine remorse and a motivation not to re-offend.
“Due to the personal circumstances, particularly his immaturity, isolation and lack of sexual knowledge, he presented as a pathetic figure,” the Chief Justice said.
“We think this appellant is insightful of the pernicious nature of this type of offending.”
With the two months Sholdis had already served in prison identified as a deterrent feature, she confirmed that his original sentence was to be substituted for a three-year probation order.
Dame Siobhan explained: “To further protect society and prevent a recurrence of this sickening behaviour, we are imposing the maximum (possible) period of community supervision.”
Sholdis was confronted by a journalist last year after he had pleaded guilty but did not want to comment.
His mum spoke for him saying, “He’s going on courses to help him, he has autism and other disabilities and during lockdown he had went into an area he wasn’t aware of.”
A police spokesperson told the Sunday World: “Police attended the scene of an arson attack on a car in the Donore Crescent area of Antrim on Saturday, 27th April.
"NI Fire and Rescue Service also attended and extinguished the fire which was reported just before 11pm. Significant damage was caused to the vehicle and it appeared that it had been set alight deliberately.”
They said enquiries are underway and anyone with information is asked to contact them.
by BelfastBodyBuilder
7 comments
Indefinite hospital order if they want to treat it as a mental health condition. Or we can do what we do with sick animals that a risk to kids…
Ah well…..
What a vile Jeffrey
judges releasing them early and cutting their sentences by years, like the owner of greggs, doesnt help matters
TELL ME ITS NOT TRUE JEFFREY!!!!
why are the cunts trying to use autism as an excuse for him being a nonce? shite reporting as usual
This guy is 33? Jesus Christ, he’s 4 years younger than me and looks old enough to be my noncey uncle.