78-YEAR-OLD FIFE MAN CAUGHT IN ONLINE CHILD CHAT STING RECEIVES SUPERVISED SENTENCE
A pensioner from Fife, David Moffat, aged 78, was caught in a sting involving online child chat.He admitted to trying to communicate indecently with a child in September 2021, believing he was chatting with a young person named Andy, but it was actually an adult in disguise.
He acknowledged that his sexual exchanges with the decoy account were for sexual gratification, or to humiliate, alarm, or distress the recipient.
Additionally, Moffat admitted to taking, making, and possessing indecent images of children at a property in Leven.
During his court appearance at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, his solicitor highlighted his recent health struggles and personal losses, including a cancer diagnosis and the death of his sister.
Sheriff Robert More sentenced Moffat to be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years and under supervision for two years as a direct alternative to jail.
The sheriff noted that the charges were very serious but decided that an immediate jail sentence was unnecessary, considering Moffat's age and life history, stating, “Fundamentally, as a matter of law, the charges to which you’ve pleaded guilty are of a gravity that would justify the imposition of a period of imprisonment.
In the circumstances of the case, I readily reach the conclusion that it is not the only appropriate sentence available to me.”
