A paedophile who sent scores of sexual messages to FIVE undercover cops posing as children has failed to persuade a jury he was only indulging in fantasy roleplay.
Twisted Ewan Rawlings trawled the internet for young victims and got chatting to decoy accounts operated by police as part of separate sting operations.
The 30-year-old, from Bankfoot, spent weeks sending sexually explicit texts and pestered the “children” to meet up for sex.
He even spoke to them over the phone to confirm that they were “genuine”.
Rawlings, who admitted having a hidden stash of child abuse images and films, went on trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
He denied attempting to communicate indecently and trying to meet with children between August 10 and October 26 2021.
The pervert claimed he knew the accounts were run by adults.
He said, at first he thought they were involved in sexual roleplay – “age play” as he described it to jurors.
He told his trial he later believed the accounts were operated by “vigilantes” and decided to keep the sex chat going to “wind them up”.
The jury took less than two hours to find Rawlings guilty of all nine charges.
Sheriff William Wood deferred sentence for background reports.
He told Rawlings: “This took place over a relatively short period of time.
“Considering the fact that in that short period you were able to find five different undercover officers gives some indication of the extent of the browsing you must have been doing.
“That gives me a great deal of concern as to how many genuine children may have been affected by your conduct.”
Rawlings was remanded in custody and placed on the sex offenders register.
‘The younger the better’
Rawlings said he had fallen into a “bad place” after suffering an injury playing football.
He spent his days at home searching out children and chatting with fellow creeps on social media app Kik.
Speaking from the witness box, Rawlings insisted that he thought the five children, aged 12 and 13, were adults engaging in “age play”.
“Is that a fantasy of yours?” asked fiscal depute Emma Farmer.
“It’s an overall fantasy, yes,” he replied.
He said he “sometimes” got sexual gratification from acting out online and said he had occasionally pretended to be a child.
But asked under cross-examination if he had a sexual interest in children Rawlings replied: “Absolutely not at all.”
Jurors were then shown his reactions when an anonymous Kik user sent him five horrific videos of children as young as two being raped.
In one response Rawlings wrote: “Good…Shame there’s no sound on that.”
He repeatedly asked for more graphic videos.
When asked by the poster about children, Rawlings wrote: “The younger the better.”
The court heard that 22 child abuse images were found on Rawlings’ phone when police raided his Main Street home.
‘Sordid and weird’
In her closing speech to jurors, Ms Farmer said: “Not all of the comments he made were sexual.
“He enquired about school and asked about their families.
“At no point does he suggest he thinks they were older than they said they were, or were not being genuine.
“He was not winding them up or role-playing.”
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said the exchanges may have seemed “sordid and weird,” but stressed if his client genuinely did not believe he was talking to children there was nothing criminal about them.
Jurors were thanked for their service during the three-day trial and offered counselling services if they felt traumatised by some of the evidence.
Sheriff Wood also excused them from jury duty for five years.
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