A Fife man has admitted sending a picture of his penis and sexually explicit comments to someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
Alan Somerville, 45, believed he was communicating online to a girl called ‘Lexi Mae’ but was actually speaking to an adult pretending to be the child.
He appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to plead guilty to attempting to cause an older child to view a sexual image and attempting to communicate indecently with them, between August 5 and 9 last year.
Caught by decoy
Prosecutor Joanne Ritchie told the court the female adult decoy was using the alias of a 13-year-old girl on a chat platform and opened a ‘hi’ message from a user called ‘Talktomeiambored’ – an account belonging to Somerville.
Within the first four messages of an exchange the adult told Somerville she was 13 years old.
He initially replied “that’s young” before engaging in conversation and making inappropriate remarks.
These included questions such as, “do you have a bf?” and “why not? You are a pretty girl”.
The comments turned more sinister and Somerville, now of Heather Court, Glenrothes discussed sexual activities in detail.
The fiscal depute said he went on to say: “I would like to see more than just your face.
“Take a selfie with your beautiful body in it.
“If you are ever up here just give me a shout”.
Ms Ritchie said Somerville sent an image of his penis and one showing a leg and boxer shorts.
Confronted at home
Communication then ceased and the adult decoy, a volunteer for online child protection group ‘For the Kids,’ went on to ascertain where Somerville lived.
Another witness confronted him at his then-home in Burntisland on the evening of August 11 2022.
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Police were contacted and two officers arrived a short time later and were shown screenshots of the relevant message exchanges.
Somerville admitted his online offending “for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification or of humiliating, distressing or alarming a person he believed to be a 13-year-old child”.
Somerville admitted attempting to cause an older child to view a sexual image and attempted to communicate indecently with an older child.
The offending took place between August 5 and 9 last year at an address in Meadowfield, Burntisland, and elsewhere.
Sex Offenders Register
Defence lawyer Heather Morrison said a plea in mitigation would be reserved until the next court hearing for first offender Somerville to have a background report prepared.
Sheriff Steven Borthwick deferred sentencing until November 20 to obtain background reports and Somerville’s bail was continued.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register meantime.
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