A supermarket manager scoured social media to hunt down local children he could bombard with graphic sexual images and conversation.
50-year-old Steven Gibson trawled through Facebook to find young girls near his home and then posed as a child to lure them onto a Snapchat group he set up.
Father-of-one Gibson, who faces being sacked by Tesco, sent cartoon images of characters from TV show Family Guy to the 12 and 13-year-old members of the group.
The children – who had been conned into thinking the group had been set up by a school friend – called in the police after Gibson started sending images of a naked penis.
Gibson was placed on the Sex Offenders Register at Perth Sheriff Court and sentence was deferred for the preparation of social work reports.
He was released on bail.
50-year-old set up group
Fiscal depute Rebecca Kynaston told the court: “The complainers were all 12 and 13 at the time and the accused is a 50-year-old male and has a Snapchat account called ‘My Name Is.’
“He was not known personally to any of the children, but they were all known to each other as they attended the same school in the Dundee area.
“In 2018 they became involved in a group chat called ‘Keep It 12A’.
“The accused was a member and was believed to have originally created the group.”
He placed a sexually explicit image featuring a character from Family Guy on the chat, which was seen by all group members.
When one girl told Gibson the message was not welcome, he replied with further filth, including a picture of a penis.
Gibson asked one girl to have sex and pestered her again when she failed to respond to his request.
He then sent a photoshopped image of a female with a male penis over her face and the children called in the police to report the vile, month-long campaign.
Gibson of Mailer Way, Perth, admitted five charges of sending written sexual communications to children on Snapchat between May 27 and June 30, 2019.
‘Nervous’ during police search
The court was told he was traced by his user name and was “uncomfortable and nervous” while police carried out a search of his family home.
Mrs Kynaston said: “His mobile phone contained screenshots of Facebook pages of young females in the Dundee, Angus and Perth area.
“A number of those pages had the user’s Snapchat details on them.”
Solicitor Ross Donnelly, defending, said: “He has, up till now, been employed by Tesco where he is a duty manager.
“He does not realistically anticipate being able to keep his job.
“He is aware of the incredibly serious nature of what’s happened.
“It is arguably surprising that this case has been prosecuted at summary level.”
Sheriff Gillian Wade granted Gibson bail but warned him he could be sent to jail when he returns to court next month.
