An Angus pervert who was released from prison early only to go on and groom another teenage girl online has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Ashley Allan’s new crimes were virtually identical to the ones he had been sent to jail for in the first place.
He was locked up in April 2016 for “badgering” girls aged between 13 and 15 to send him indecent images of themselves via social media applications.
That sentence saw him jailed for two years and seven months but Allan – described as a “dangerous, predatory individual” at the time – was released at the half way point of that term in the summer of 2017.
Less than a year later – and with six months of his release licence still to run – he was back on Snapchat targeting a 14-year-old girl, claiming himself to be aged just 15.
He then “extorted” naked pictures from the girl before sending a text to her threatening to distribute them to her friends.
Police were called in when the girl’s school discovered the texts.
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan told Dundee Sheriff Court that Allan pretended to be at a school near to where the girl lived and started an “online relationship” with her.
He said: “He asked her for pictures not wearing clothes.
“She said no but he persisted and threatened to spread rumours if she didn’t do it.
“She later received texts informing her some of her friends were in contact with the accused and wanted to see the photos.
“A teacher at her school was made aware of the text messages and police were subsequently called.”
Allan’s home was then raided by police who caught him trying to escape through a window.
They then found a horror stash of child abuse images organised into folders with different girls names on each on his mobile phone.
That included more than 30 hours worth of sick videos, some at the highest level of depravity.
Allan, 27, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to one charge under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act and a second of possessing indecent images of children.
The offences took place between April 24 and May 1 last year at Allan’s home in Montrose, Angus.
Defence solicitor Grant Bruce said: “He is speaking to social workers about his offences and how to change his behaviour in the future.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown interjected: “He could try not doing it. He groomed her and placed pressure on her – that’s not something you do by accident or just stumble in to.”
Mr Bruce added: “He completely understands that due to these offences a custodial sentence is inevitable.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown returned Allan to prison to serve the final six months of his original sentence and imposed a three-year prison term to be served consecutively to that.
He also placed Allan on the sex offenders register for life.
The sheriff said: “You extorted photos from her.
“The nature of the damage which you did to her is unpredictable but what is predictable is that this girl will have sustained psychological damage, probably relating to the making of relationships in the future and is likely to have long term consequences from that.
“You seem to have made it known that you had these images because people were asking for them.
“So far all these reasons I take the view that this charge is very serious.”
