Dundee sex offender Connor Tait has again had sentence deferred to have his mental health properly assessed by doctors.
It is the fourth time Tait, 21, has had his sentence put off since being found guilty by a jury in November of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy.
He pounced on the victim and his friend as they played outside at a grassy area near their homes in Menzieshill, while on bail, on July 4.
The victim’s terrified friend ran to raise the alarm and police traced Tait to his home where he was told them he had been all day.
When found guilty, Sheriff Davidson told him: “You have committed a horrendous offence when you attacked a child in a public place.
“He was a complete stranger to you as was his young friend. They were both terrified.”
Tait, who has twoprevious convictions for sexual offences against young boys, was branded “disturbed” by the sheriff in January as he warned him he could be sent to the High Court for sentencing.
Tait has since been moved from Barlinnie Prison to the State Hospital at Carstairs due to concerns over his mental health.
He was not brought to court on Tuesday and solicitor Mike Short said he had tried to visit him at Carstairs on Friday but there had been “an incident” and he had been unable to see him.
A report was, however, available to the court and Sheriff Elizabeth Munro agreed that doctors were not yet entirely sure what was wrong with Tait.
She agreed to defer sentence for a further period for the treatment order to continue and a supplementary report to be prepared.
Sentence was deferred until May 20.