A former Perth Domino’s pizza shop manager who groomed three teenage girls and persuaded them to send him naked selfies has been spared jail.
Lewis McConnell asked his young victims for sexual photographs in exchange for helping them get alcohol, Perth Sheriff Court heard.
The 27-year-old also assisted two of the “vulnerable” teens as they ran away from home and met up with one with the intention of engaging in unlawful sexual activity.
McConnell, from Dundee, was manager at Perth’s Domino’s takeaway when he preyed upon the youngsters in 2022.
Returning to the dock for sentencing this week, the court heard McConnell has since lost his job as boss of an Edinburgh coffee shop but has now found work as a delivery driver.
Maintains his innocence
McConnell continues to deny his catalogue of sexual offending.
During the trial, he claimed his Snapchat account may have been hacked.
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said at Monday’s sentencing hearing: “When I spoke to Mr McConnell earlier this morning, he thought he had done himself a disservice by what he said (to social workers) in his background report.
“But it would have been a false economy for Mr McConnell to have suddenly turned round and said ‘I’m guilty but I decided to just have a trial’.
“He maintains a different position but at the end of the day he accepts the verdict of the jury.”
Ms Clark said her client had no criminal history.
“We are now past the two-year anniversary of these offences and he certainly hasn’t come to the attention of the authorities since,” she said.
Unsuitable for rehab course
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC told McConnell: “I note that you maintain your denials but it is clear that the jury did not accept that position.”
She said: “It is unfortunate that this position has meant you are unsuitable for the Moving Forward programme (a rehabilitation scheme for sex offenders) as that would have provided a route to dealing with the predatory behaviour you have been convicted of.”
But the sheriff added: “I am satisfied that there is an alternative to custody available.”
McConnell, of Balgavies Avenue, was ordered to carry out 300 hours unpaid work as a direct alternative to prison.
As part of a conduct requirement, he must not have any unsupervised contact with children unless pre-approved with his supervising officer.
The court also placed restrictions on his internet use.
He must also stay on the sex offenders register for two years.
The sheriff further imposed a non-harassment order, banning McConnell from contacting any of his victims for the same time period.
‘How are you going to repay me?’
All three victims gave evidence during the trial in December.
One girl said she knew McConnell as “Nathan” and communicated with him via Snapchat when she was around 14 years old.
On one occasion, he picked her up from her home in Perth and drove her to a shop to get caffeinate vodka drink Dragon Soop.
After dropping her back home, McConnell sent her a message: “How are you going to repay me?”
The girl, now 17, said: “He then asked me to send him naked pictures of myself.”
Asked if she did, she replied: “Yeah. Once or twice.”
The teenager said McConnell sent her a photo of his penis “about five times”.
Jurors heard he sent a series of sexual texts, including an incriminating image of his face, which was passed to police.
The court also heard how the girl and another victim were driven by McConnell to locations around Scotland.
In a pre-recorded interviewed played in court, the girl said she had switched her phone off because she and the other girl were running away from home.
‘Frequently’ asked for images
Another girl said she had been in McConnell’s car 10 to 15 times.
She said he asked for naked photos “kind of frequently” and also sent her photos of his penis “frequent-ish as well”.
Asked by fiscal depute Alistair McDermid how she felt about seeing the images, she said: “Awkward, uncomfortable.”
McConnell was convicted of coercing the three teenage girls into looking at sexual images and compelling them to send him naked photos of themselves between January 1 and October 31 2022.
Jurors also found him guilty of meeting one of the girls for sexual activity.
An allegation that he sexually assaulted the youngster on an unknown road near Edinburgh was not proven.
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