A Perth man branded a serious danger to children after he was caught grooming a 14-year-old boy on Facebook has been jailed for ten months.
Ryan Strathie, 23, was finally imprisoned for failing to co-operate with a community order imposed despite him being branded “high risk”.
Strathie was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years when he admitted breaching the unpaid work and supervision order.
Perth Sheriff Court previously heard how he sent sexually explicit messages to the teenager he befriended online.
He was eventually reported to police by his own mother.
He described a series of sexual acts he wanted to carry out on the boy and was thrown out of his sister’s home after confessing to contact with the child.
Strathie’s sexual messages were discovered when he used a friend’s phone to log in to his Facebook account and then forgot to log back out.
He admitted sending sexually explicit messages to the 14-year-old at an address in Perth between July 6 and August 8 2019.
Caught by family
Depute fiscal Matthew Kerr said: “The accused’s sister was in the living room when the accused came in and disclosed to her he had been communicating with a young boy.
“When asked, he disclosed that the boy was 14 or 15-years-old.
“He was told that what he was doing was wrong by his sister, who then left.
“She then texted the accused and told him he was no longer welcome in her house and should leave.
“She telephoned her mother to advise her of what had happened.
“At 9pm the following day a friend of the accused phoned him and he said he had been thrown out because he had fallen for someone he shouldn’t have.
“The friend invited the accused round.
“She asked the accused what was going on and he told her he had fallen for a boy, who was 14.
“Later that evening the accused borrowed his friend’s phone and signed into Facebook to communicate with his mother.
“While the accused was sleeping the friend went onto Facebook and the accused’s account was still logged on.
“She identified the conversation between the accused and the complainer, where the complainer stated he was 14, and took screenshots.”
In the graphic messages, Strathie repeatedly said he wanted to kiss the boy, called him “hot” and described carrying out sex acts on him.
High risk paedophile
At his original sentencing in 2020, Sheriff Gillian Wade said: “He is assessed as being at high risk of reconviction and at high risk of further sexual offending.”
She told the pervert: “It is clear from reading the reports that you do have some insight into the seriousness of the offence and the consequences of it upon you.”
She ordered him to carry out 120 hours unpaid work, placed him under supervision for three years and told him to complete the Moving Forward making Changes programme.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton, defending, said: “He accepts full responsibility for his offending.
“He was very upset at how he has behaved.”
But the court has been told that despite repeated chances, Strathie had failed to complete the work and had breached the court order.
In June last year, Strathie was given unpaid work for opening a bank account without permission, in breach of notification requirements.
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