A 43-year-old paedophile who posed as a teenage girl to groom children online has been banned from entering parks and playgrounds.
Insurance worker Anthony Duncan was described by a sheriff as “vile and abhorrent” and told he had played a part in the global sexual abuse of children.
Duncan sent an explicit photograph of himself to an undercover police officer investigating online grooming and posing as a 13-year-old girl.
The incident led to police raiding Duncan’s home and finding a grim stash of child abuse material, which included videos with a running time of more than four days.
‘Reprehensible and abhorrent’ grooming
At Perth Sheriff Court, Duncan was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years and ordered to carry out 300 hours unpaid work in the community.
He was also placed under supervision and had a conduct requirement imposed to restrict his online activity and to keep him away from anyone under the age of 18.
Sheriff William Wood said: “You had been grooming these children for your own sexual gratification.
“The sexualisation of children before the age and stage where it is appropriate is reprehensible and abhorrent.
“In relation to the multiple indecent images of children, each photograph represents serious abuse of a child.
“Those who access this material bear responsibility by creating demand for it.”
Police sting
The court was told Duncan believed he was chatting to a 13-year-old girl on a social media site aimed at young teenagers.
He initially posed as a young girl as he struck up conversation with “Jack” who was actually a specialist police officer leading an anti-grooming unit.
The court was told Duncan, who worked for insurance giant Aviva, turned the conversation round to sexual topics within a few days.
He then sent a graphic image to “Jack” and a check on his internet details led police to carry out a raid on his Perth home.
When officers searched the property they found hundreds of abuse pictures and videos stored on his equipment.
The court was told Duncan had initially targeted a social media site used by schoolchildren, using the name SarahBabes.
He was unaware the “Jack” account had been set up by the South East Regional Crime Unit, in a bid to target paedophiles in England and further afield.
The charges
Duncan, of Hospital Street, Perth, admitted sending written sexual communication to someone he believed to be a child between December 2019 31 and January 7 2020.
He also admitted having illicit child material at his home between August 2019 and March 2020.
