Porn creator dropped from Police Scotland campaign slams force's 'inadequate and embarrassing' vetting process

29 January 2025, 13:46 | Updated: 29 January 2025, 15:30

By Alan Zycinski

@AlanJZycinski

A porn creator dropped from a Police Scotland campaign has branded its vetting process 'inadequate and embarrassing'.

Ross, 25, appeared as an actor in a video advert shared by the force last week urging the public to recognise the signs of abusive relationships.

But it has since been pulled from their Facebook account after people who saw the ad raised concerns.

Read more: Police Scotland recruit 'kink content' porn creator for domestic abuse campaign

Read more: Age verification to be required on any site hosting pornography, Ofcom says

A Police Scotland spokesperson told LBC: "It's been removed while we look into the concerns raised."

LBC understands these concerns surround the footage OnlyFans creator Ross regularly shares online showing him engaging in explicit sex acts, some of which involve choking, slapping and restraints."

The For Women Scotland group also raised concerns about the post

They wrote in a post on X: "OTOH campaigners raising the dangerous impact of violent porn on young people, esp regarding potentially fatal & abusive acts like choking.

"OTOH, @PoliceScotland appointing a creator of violent content as the face of a DV (domestic violence) campaign. Why? To give tips?"

But Ross told LBC it was widely available on his public X profile with 55,000 followers and could have been found by the quickest of background checks.

He said: "The role was flagged by my casting agent. I sent in a self-tape. I got it, we filmed it, and that all went totally smoothly.

"I then got a call from my casting agent saying the advert is live however the police have gotten a bunch of backlash from people who've recognised you from X and they've taken it down.

"If you type in my name on Instagram for example, it comes up within the first few searches, you click on my name and it is immediately apparent what I do. And you can go on to my X account, my TikTok and it is all there. And they all advertise my OnlyFans in great big bold white letters. You cannot miss it.

"So whoever carried out the vetting process didn't do it properly in the slightest.

"Perhaps someone of an older generation carried it out and was only doing checks such as criminal history or if I've got points on my license. Which in today's world just isn't good enough.

"I'd describe the vetting process as unacceptable...inadequate definitely. As a result of their mistake, I'm now not getting paid as much as I would have been. I was really counting on that money to pay off a loan but I'll probably just have to work a bit harder doing my OnlyFans."

Ross also told LBC that what happened to him was "definitely" a bad sign of what the vetting process may be like across other parts of the force.

He also questioned the wider decision to take down the advert after they became aware of his work.

"If it's completely consensual - as it always is in my case - isn't me being in a domestic abuse advert kind of a good thing for consent in general? Because I know the difference between consent and non-consent. I'm the best person who can go 'no what this person is doing isn't consensual'. I know the difference more than someone who isn't as experienced.

"Perhaps because of the type of content it is, Police Scotland felt like they had no choice. But it's clear that it's consensual and not illegal so I don't think they had any right to take it down. I feel like they've panicked and taken it down. It's embarrassing for them on both sides of it. They could have got backlash and left it up and said 'well we hire a bunch of people etc' but no they panicked. This has made me trust the police less going forward."

The full statement from a Police Scotland spokesperson read: "We have been made aware of an issue with our most recent domestic abuse advert.

"The advert has been removed while we look into the concerns raised.

"All reasonable checks are carried out to ensure our campaigns meet our values of fairness, integrity and respect and our commitment to upholding human rights.

"We are equally committed to ensuring all communities are confident in reporting domestic abuse to us."

We've asked the force if they have any updated comment to make.