A girls’ football coach from Dundee set up online profiles to groom a 14-year-old by paying her cash to send him explicit photographs.
Former soldier Christopher Sinclair was running an under-15s team as a volunteer coach while players’ parents were unaware he was a paedophile.
Sinclair, 41, specifically targeted one youngster and bombarded her with messages from a variety of social media accounts for over a year.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how he used Instagram and Snapchat to continue pestering the schoolgirl when she initially tried to block him.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, eventually agreed to send photographs of herself to Sinclair, who used ‘picsandvidsbuyer’ as one of his online accounts.
She eventually told a group of friends on social media a grown man was paying her for pictures.
Sick messages
Sinclair, of Balerno Street, appeared in the dock last week and admitted grooming a girl online from his former home in Arbroath between June 1 2021 and July 22 2022.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie told the court: “The accused is a health and safety advisor in a factory.
“He was a volunteer coach with a girls under-15 football team.
“The complainer received an Instagram message from ‘picsandvidsbuyer’.”
Sinclair messaged: “Figure is insane, looking good, nice bum.
“If you get pics I would love to see them – maybe send you a little reward as a thankyou.”
Sleazy Sinclair signed the message off with a winking face emoji.
In further messages, he wrote: “I’ll make you a deal, 5 pics for 50. You send the first 2, I’ll pay 50, and then you send the rest.”
When she blocked his account, Sinclair set up more accounts and begged her to reply to him.
He said: “Please unblock my main. I want to spoil you so bad. Just tell me how to keep your attention. Are you interested in starting a deal?”
Sent pics from internet
The girl – based in England – told Sinclair she wanted a £30 advance and he immediately sent the money to her bank account.
He said: “If you would like more money then send a photo of you.”
The girl sent him a faceless image she had recovered from the internet but after paying, Sinclair realised it was fake and confronted her.
He sent a further £50 and an explicit request or more images for £100.
She reported the matter to friends and his perversion became public.
Solicitor Angela McLardy, defending, said: “He shut himself down with anxiety.
“For relief he was going online on sites like OnlyFans and he is not sure how this crossover happened.”
Sinclair was a weapons instructor when he served in the armed forces and later worked as a close protection officer in the private security sector.
‘Head in sand’ warning
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith placed Sinclair on the Sex Offenders Register and granted him bail for the preparation of pre-sentence reports and a Restriction of Liberty assessment.
He said: “I cannot impose a period of imprisonment on someone over 21 who hasn’t served a sentence before, without obtaining reports.
“Even those who have a severe predilection for older children may be better served by being rehabilitated in the community rather than with a custodial sentence.
“But much will depend on what you tell the authors of your report and what they report to the court.
“It is in your best interests, rather than burying your head in the sand, to be open and honest with the court.”
He pointed out Sinclair’s previous work with the football team was “concerning”.
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