A pervert caught grooming a person he thought was a child online has been told he was “very lucky” to avoid a jail term.
Graham Kirk was snared after he moaned to police that a vigilante group had been pestering him.
The 36-year-old had been attempting to make sexual contact with a child, unaware he was talking to a decoy from a group calling themselves Maximum Exposure Scotland.
Kirk avoided a prison sentence at Dundee Sheriff Court and was instead placed on a stringent conduct requirement designed to keep him away from children.
The court previously heard how the decoy – using the name “Alexis McDevlin” on social media sites WhatsApp and Skout – told Kirk that she was 13 and was “looking for friends who were not horrible to her”.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson said previously: “There was some general chat before it became extremely sexual in nature.
“He asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend, what age she would like to have sex, and asking her chest size.
“He said that if he lived close by he could come round and the conversation turned to meeting up.
“They made arrangements to meet in Dundee the following weekend.”
Kirk, of Ann Street, previously pleaded guilty to sending sexual messages and a graphic image to “Alexis McDevlin” between February 19 and March 2 2019.
Defence solicitor David Duncan said he could not contribute further to the “thorough” social work report that had been prepared.
Sheriff Tom Hughes placed Kirk on a community payback order which comprised of three years of supervision.
He also imposed a conduct requirement which restricts Kirk’s ability to possess more than one device capable of accessing the internet and his ability to be in the company of children without the approval of supervising officers.
Sheriff Hughes said: “You are very, very lucky not to be receiving a custodial sentence.”
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