FIFE PAEDOPHILE CAUGHT IN ONLINE STING FACES JAIL AMID PAST CONVICTIONS
Derek Douglas, a 39-year-old inmate at HMP Perth, appeared via video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to admit to charges of communicating indecently.The case details reveal that in January, Douglas targeted an 11-year-old girl in England through Snapchat by messaging her with explicit photographs and asking if she was laughing.
The girl, who did not recognize his account, responded with her age and later told her sister about the messages.
Douglas continued to engage with her and her sister, sending more explicit images and videos of himself.
He later engaged in a sting operation after his sister deleted the initial account and set up a new one, with Douglas subsequently sending further explicit messages, images, and videos to the fictional account posing as the girl.
He was confronted at Cowdenbeath railway station by the paedophile hunter group Fleetwood Enforcers and others, leading to his arrest and detention at Dunfermline Police Station.
Douglas admitted to two charges of indecent communication from his home in Kirkcaldy.
The sheriff described him as 'a dangerous man, particularly dangerous to young children,' emphasizing the serious risk he poses.
Despite having four prior sexual convictions, including a nine-month sentence in 2018 for possession of indecent images of children, Douglas remains under investigation with reports deferred until August 11 for sentencing.
He has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register, and the court sentenced him to up to nine months in prison, with the judge noting that his continued offending despite prior convictions shows he is 'almost inevitably' likely to be jailed again.
