AN ANGUS teenager who sent sexual messages to young girls has been added to the sex offenders register.
Jamie Lewis McIntosh (17) used Facebook from an address at Manor Croft in Forfar to send messages of a sexual nature to a 14-year-old girl between April 18 and May 7 this year, and a 12-year-old on the same site between June 10 and 11.
McIntosh, whose address was given as Cyrenians in Aberdeen, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday, when he was given a three-year community payback order with conditions and placed on the sex offenders register for the offences.
He was told that he will be under supervision for the duration of the order and must comply with its conditions, which included restricting his internet access and an order to not participate in any way whatsoever in child activities without the prior approval of his supervising officer.
McIntosh’s defence agent told the court: “The report is quite clear. I spent two hours with the accused in Aberdeen and went through every line in the report.
“I’m not going to say anything in open court about the report but this young man needs help.”
He added: “It has been brought to his attention, despite his young age, the power of the court and if he were older it could have been dealt with differently.”
Sheriff Kevin Veal expressed concern over what access McIntosh may have to the internet if kept at liberty but also acknowledged that some of the tools used for rehabilitating the teenager would only be accessible in an online format.
As a result, he sentenced McIntosh to a community payback order with unpaid work but included a total of 12 conditions within that order, which he must adhere to.
Sheriff Veal added: “He will not own or use a computer or computer-based equipment whatsoever without prior approval from his supervising officer.
“He will not have access to any computer or other electronic device which allows access to the internet without prior approval from his supervising officer and he must allow any responsible officer, authorised by his supervising officer, reasonable access including checks and spot-checks to any device that is internet capable.
“The accused will carry out, within 12 months of this date, 180 hours of unpaid work.”