A Fife butcher is facing imprisonment after being snared by online paedophile hunters.
Paul Wilson sent dozens of dirty messages to what he believed was a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
In fact, the messages were being received by a 43-year-old online vigilante in English paedophile hunting group COBRA.
Wilson, a married father, had used Facecast to contact what he believed was a girl called Summer before moving onto Whatsapp.
During the week’s worth of conversation, he instructed her to perform sex acts on herself, requested semi-naked photographs and told her he had “sexy” dreams about her.
In his chats, he even said to the account he was aware lots of men pretended to be women online.
51-year-old Wilson sat with his head in his hands in the dock as his messages were read out and sprinted from Dundee Sheriff Court to try to avoid reporters.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced in January.
Sexual chat begins
Wilson had engaged in the chats at the home he shared with his partner in St Andrews but now lives in Cowdenbeath‘s Foulford Street.
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion told the court the decoy account had been created in 2020 on Facecast but Wilson began communicating with it on May 4 2021, using the username Pau1.
Wilson initially told the person with whom he was communicating he was from Perth and was told very early in the conversation “Summer” was “almost 14”.
In the first day of conversation, Wilson began commenting on the fictional girl’s hobby of dancing and asked for a video and a picture of her in school uniform.
When asked why, he replied: “Just asking.”
The following day, conversation moved onto Whatsapp and Wilson asked: “So you in your PJs then?” and “Can I get a picture please sexy?”
When he was told the “girl” was with her family, he said to “sneak to the bathroom.”
A day later, Wilson said he could not believe she was only 14 and added: “You must have great legs” after discussing her dancing.
Confronted by hunter group in Dundee
On May 8, Wilson told the decoy he “had a good sexy dream about you last night.”
He proceeded to discuss bubbles on her body in the shower and began instructing her to perform sex acts on herself while imagining it was him.
His chats were passed onto Maximum Exposure, another vigilante group, who confronted him in his car in Dundee.
In an interview with police, Wilson said: “I think at the time it was just a bit of harmless fun.
“I made a horrible mistake.”
He admitted engaging in sexual conversation with what he believed was a child for obtaining sexual gratification or for humiliating, alarming or distressing the recipient of his messages.
Sheriff Paul Brown ordered reports and said: “This is a very serious matter.
“You should appreciate that custody will be at the forefront of my mind.”
