A forrmer Ashurst and Freshfields solicitor has been jailed a second time after the true extent of his predatory behaviour was uncovered.
Stuart Cottis was initially arrested last March when police discovered he was chatting online with other men and underage boys about sexually abusing children.
He stood trial at Southwark Crown Court in November 2023 where the prosecution described messages in which Cottis planned, boasted and fantasised about the sexual abuse of young children.
He also claimed in the messages that he had sexually assaulted a boy known to him, however when he was arrested Cottis denied he had committed any physical offences. The lawyer told the police he was glad they had caught him before he went any further, reported Ham & High.
Cottis was jailed for three years for engaging in sexual conversations with children, and his sentence reflected the understanding that his boasts about abusing a child had only been fantasy.
However, this October he pleaded guilty to new charges of sexual assault as well as sexual communication with children of primary school age.
His lawyer said the offences took place while Cottis was unemployed, depressed and drinking, and that “most” of the messages sent by Cottis were bravado.
The 48-year-old lawyer qualified at Freshfields in 2002, moving two years later to SNR Denton where he specialised in railways and transport. In 2012 he moved to Ashurst, where he was a senior associate for almost nine years before moving to Hitachi Rail in 2021. His tenure there lasted just nine months, and he was unemployed by February 2022.
He stood that May as a Conservative candidate for Islington council, but only picked up 289 votes.
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