A creep from St Andrews who sent sex messages to a girl he thought was 13 has been jailed.
Paul Wilson, 51, believed he was engaging in a bit of “harmless fun”, telling “Summer” he had been having “sexy dreams” about her and said he could not believe her age.
The beastly butcher had actually been communicating with a so-called paedophile hunter from England.
A Scottish vigilante group later confronted Wilson in his car in Dundee and he admitted he had been chatting with the decoy at the time.
He made no attempt to hide his actions but claimed “I was just joking”.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that during a week’s worth of conversation, he had instructed the “girl” to perform sex acts, requested semi-naked photographs and even joked about men “pretending to be girls” online.
He admitted his crime at the end of last year and was sentenced by Sheriff Paul Brown to 13 months in prison.
At his first hearing, Wilson ran from the court to try to hide from reporters and sat with his head in his hands while details of his sick crime were read out.
Sick chats
Wilson, who now lives in Foulford Street, Cowdenbeath, had engaged in the chats at the home he shared with his family in St Andrews.
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion told the court the decoy account by the English group COBRA had been created in 2020 on Facecast and Wilson began communicating with it on May 4 2021, using the username Pau1.
Wilson initially told “Summer” he was from Perth and was told very early in the conversation she was “almost 14”.
In the first day of conversation, Wilson was told the fictional girl enjoyed dancing and he asked for a video and a picture of her in school uniform.
When asked why, he replied: “Just asking.”
He later said “you must have great legs”, after discussing her dancing.
The conversation moved onto Whatsapp and Wilson asked: “So you in your PJs then?” and “Can I get a picture please sexy?”
When he was told the “girl” was with her family, he said to “sneak to the bathroom.”
Confrontation
On May 8, Wilson told the decoy he “had a good sexy dream about you last night” and asked her to perform sex acts on herself.
His details were passed onto Maximum Exposure, another vigilante group, which confronted him in his car in Dundee three days later.
In an interview with police, Wilson said: “I think at the time it was just a bit of harmless fun.
“I made a horrible mistake.”
Wilson admitted engaging in sexual conversation with what he believed was a child for obtaining sexual gratification or for humiliating, alarming or distressing the recipient of his messages.
The prison term was reduced from 18 months because of his early plea.
He is also subject to sex offender notification requirements.
For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.
