A Dunfermline man bought booze for an underage girl and had sex with her over almost a year when he was a teenager himself.
Bradley Young was nearly 18 when he began engaging in sexual activity with his then-14-year-old victim.
Young, now 22, of Arthur Street, had denied the offending but was convicted by a jury of three charges following a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last month.
He was found guilty by majority verdict of having intercourse and engaging in sexual activity with an older child on various occasions when he was over 16, between February 1 2019 and January 12 2020.
Young was also convicted unanimously of buying alcohol for the girl, as well as a number of other under-18s, on various occasions.
Girl got drunk before sex
The offending on both charges took place at various addresses in Dunfermline and in the area surrounding Townhill Loch.
In a taped joint investigative interview with police and social work, the girl said “most of the time” she would drink alcohol before having sex with Young and he would buy vodka or cans of caffeinated alcohol drink, Dragon Soop.
She said Young knew her real age and spoke of times she felt “pressured” into having sex with him, though she made clear it was always consensual.
In a later interview in a closed courtroom, giving evidence on commission, the young woman said: “I was drunk every time I basically had sex with him”.
Young was also convicted by majority of communicating indecently with an older child by sending the girl messages containing sexual comments, making sexual comments to her and compelling her to send naked images of herself to him on social media.
Sheriff Charles Macnair sentenced Young to 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum possible – and a year-long restriction of liberty order.
Young was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years and given offender supervision for the same period.
He was also fined £500.
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