FIFE PAEDOPHILE CONFRONTED LIVE ON FACEBOOK AFTER CHILD CHAT

A 51-year-old man named John Meynell was caught in Fife after he sent explicit photographs and videos of himself to someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl on Facebook. The individual he was chatting with was actually an adult pretending to be a minor, part of an operation by a Welsh-based activist group called Dank Dragon that uses child decoy profiles to expose paedophiles. Meynell attempted to video call the decoy multiple times and sent videos of himself masturbating and photos of his penis. He was told the decoy was 14, but he continued the sexualized conversations, instructing her to delete the chat and saying "this stays between us, don’t tell anyone." He also called the decoy while masturbating and asked to see her face. The confrontation was streamed live on Facebook at Meynell's home in Lochore, where he claimed he thought he was speaking to a 24-year-old. Police were alerted and Meynell was detained. He pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to view a sexual image and attempting to communicate indecently with a child at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. He has been placed on the sex offenders register and is due for sentencing on August 13, with background reports to be obtained. Meynell has a previous non-related conviction.