A Fife man sent pictures of his penis and a video of himself performing a sex act to people he thought were children, before arranging to meet one of them in England.
Graeme Laing, 28, believed he was communicating online with children aged between 13 and 16 named ‘Sophie’ and ‘Caz’ but in reality, he was speaking to two adults.
Court papers state he sent a sordid photograph and video to one of the decoys and another explicit image to the other.
In both cases he sent them written messages of a sexually explicit nature.
The offending took place at an address in Lime Grove, Methil, in June and July 2021 when he was aged 26.
Laing previously admitted two charges of attempting to cause a child to look at a sexual image and two counts of attempting to communicate indecently with a child.
Between June 28 and August 21 of that year, having been given an undertaking to appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Laing breached a condition not to contact anyone under the age of 18 by sending messages to ‘Caz’ and arranging to meet with her in Bolton.
He also admitted a sixth charge that he did take or permit to be taken or make indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, on August 20.
Laing, of Cardenden Road, Cardenden, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing.
Supervision and Register
Defence lawyer Lynn Herbert said a background report suggested a community payback order (CPO) would be the most appropriate punishment for Laing.
The solicitor pointed out her client is a vulnerable adult and reports had to be obtained to see if he was capable of undergoing court proceedings.
Ms Herbert said Laing was deemed unsuitable for unpaid work.
Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane sentenced Laing to two years of social work supervision as part of a CPO.
Specific conditions, not detailed in court, will be incorporated into this order.
The sheriff also placed Laing on the Sex Offenders Register for two years.
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