A babysitter who asked a five-year-old girl to put on a nappy then filmed her taking it off has avoided the sex offenders register.
Daniel Flinter’s actions were exposed when the video was discovered on his mobile phone and police went on to find he had a fetish for drinking milk out of a baby’s bottle.
Officers seized the phone and a search of his home discovered his bedroom was full of prams, buggies, dummies and teddies.
Flinter, 31, was babysitting a friend’s daughter and took with him the nappy and a babygrow, which he asked the child to put on over her clothing.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Flinter avoided being placed on the sex offenders’ register but had restrictions placed on his contact with children.
Sentencing had been deferred for months as experts were consulted in an effort to discover whether Flinter’s actions were sexually motivated.
Flinter, of Manse Place, Inverkeithing, previously admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by causing a five-year-old female child, then in his care, to put on a babygrow and nappy over her clothing and video record her removing them.
The sentencing had been deferred for various investigations into his behaviour, the latest being an 18-page psychologist report.
Defence solicitor Jonathan Matheson-Dear said, “The view in the report is that it’s not possible to state definitively if the offence was sexually motivated.
“It is not able to pinpoint a difficulty.”
He said his client maintained his position that there was no sexual motivation.
“There was no physical contact with the child when the child was persuaded to don the items which he had brought with him.
“Not every act of bizarre conduct is sexually motivated.
“His court appearances have led to extreme anxiety.”
Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said: “A search was carried out of his home by police and from what was found he clearly has a fetish.
“His bedroom was full of prams, buggies, teddies, dummies and comforters.”
Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “Whether there’s a sexual element or not, the impact on the child should not be under-estimated when she may find out what happened to her in a few years’ time.”
He told Flinter: “This was bizarre behaviour on your part.
“Whatever your own issues that’s a matter for you – what you do in your own bedroom.
“When you inflict that on others, particularly a child, it becomes a matter of public concern.”
Sheriff Macnair imposed a community payback order with three years’ supervision and 170 hours of unpaid work.
The sheriff did not place Flinter on the sex offenders’ register but imposed restrictions on his conduct with children.
He cannot have contact with under-16s unless he is accompanied by someone older than him who is aware of the nature of the offence.
