A Comrie creep who sent sexual messages to a social media account he believed belonged to a schoolgirl, will be supervised for three years.
Ian Moody previously admitted sending messages to the decoy account over a period of nine months.
Moody was ultimately arrested in Crieff after sending a string of sexualised messages to an account he believed belonged to Zoe Herd.
He thought Zoe was a girl between the ages of 13 and 15.
In fact, the account was run by an adult.
At a hearing on February 24, Moody admitted sending the messages intentionally for either the purposes of attaining sexual gratification or of humiliating, distressing or alarming the recipient.
‘No sexual interest’
45-year-old Moody, of Earnmuir Road in the Strathearn village, was sentenced by Sheriff Euan Duthie at Perth Sheriff Court.
His solicitor Pauline Cullerton explained Moody had no analogous convictions.
She said: “Mr Moody’s intention was to use the chat sites to have sexual conversations with others, which would have been adults.
“However, the female to whom he was chatting hadn’t attained the age of 16.
“I don’t think it was the case that there was any sexual interest but the age of his victim was in no way a barrier.
“He fully accepts that his actions were completely unacceptable.
“He has been identified as suitable for community based disposals.
“He does appreciate the seriousness of this offence.”
Prison warning
Sheriff Duthie pointed out the social worker who had interviewed Moody before sentencing flagged up minimisation on his part.
He placed Moody under supervision and on the Sex Offenders Register for three years.
The sheriff also issued a string of conduct requirements including restrictions on Moody travelling abroad, his accommodation, contact with children and use of devices which can access the internet.
He also ordered Moody to take part in the Moving Forward Making Changes programme for sex offenders.
Sheriff Duthie said: “I would be fully warranted in imposing a custodial sentence today.
“With very considerable hesitation, I’m going to impose a community payback order.
“These are a full and rigorous set of requirements.
“If there is a single breach of that order, you can expect a custodial sentence.
“This appears to be the first offence of this nature.”
