ABERDEEN SWIM COACH SENTENCED FOR SENDING CHILD SEXUAL IMAGE
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday, 27-year-old Joel Valentine appeared to be sentenced after admitting to the transmission of a sexually explicit image to a 15-year-old boy in November 2023.The teenager, whom Valentine knew through his involvement in swimming, was contacted on Snapchat after he asked who might win a school’s “assistant of the year” award.
The court learned that Valentine, the former owner of the Aberdeen Swimming Academy, sent the adult image in response to this innocent question.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin described the offence as “completely inexplicable” and sentenced Valentine to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.
Counsel for Valentine, Jenny Logan, explained that her client had recently begun attending counseling sessions to deal with issues of alcohol abuse.
She highlighted that a background investigation revealed the crime was “related to alcohol misuse,” which Valentine accepted, adding that he had also been experiencing mental health challenges.
The sheriff expressed some comfort that social workers did not see him as an immediate high risk, and instead ordered him to serve the community hours as an alternative to a more serious intervention.
She advised Valentine that he should work with social services to understand what led to the offence and to help prevent similar actions in the future, with a one-year deadline to complete the hours.
Furthermore, he will be under social work supervision for 18 months and be subject to sex offender notification requirements during this period.
During the previous hearing, in July, prosecutor Stephanie Cardow explained that Valentine initiated contact with the minor on November 5.
Valentine had invited the boy to a party, which he declined, then asked him who could win a swimming school competition.
In response, Valentine instructed the boy to perform a sexual act and sent him an explicit image of his genitals.
The boy responded by calling Valentine a “weirdo” and questioning his sexuality.
Valentine later sent another message asking, “Are you gay?” The boy blocked him on Snapchat and was contacted later via Instagram.
Valentine stated that the image he sent was a “stock photo” received from another person, but the teenager reported the incident to authorities.
