A Glenrothes man confronted by paedophile hunters after he sent pictures of his genitals to a “schoolgirl” has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
Patrick Stanley will be sentenced next month after he admitted causing someone he believed to be a child to view a sexual image and communicating indecently.
The fake account with which 55-year-old Stanley was communicating was set up in the name of fictional teenager Poppy Simons.
However, the account was actually being run by an adult woman operating as a paedophile hunter.
Stanley sent pictures of his private parts and made reference to having sex with her.
After his conversation on April 26, paedophile hunters from West Lothian-based group Shatter The Silence (STS) confronted Stanley at his home in Meldrum Court, Glenrothes.
In a filmed confrontation – shared on Facebook – he denied knowingly speaking with a girl that he believed to be 13 on the social media site.
He went on to claim his phone had been hacked and there were seven viruses on the device.
Video denials
The woman filming told Stanley: “You right away said if only you were 16, I’d send you a picture of my c**k.
“But… the ‘hackers’ actually sent a picture of your c**k.”
Stanley told the camera operator he did not have any photos “of that”, adding “it’s no been me anyway”.
When shown a picture of the explicit image he sent on the paedophile hunters’ stream, he said: “It’s a wee bit on the big side for mine.”
The video has been viewed more than 130,000 times on Facebook.
His guilty pleas were accepted.
Sheriff Andrew Berry ordered a social work report and a restriction of liberty assessment at a hearing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Monday.
Stanley was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced on October 6.
