DUNDONIAN, 62, ON REGISTER FOR ASKING ’14-YEAR-OLD’ DECOY FOR SEXUAL PICTURES
A Dundonian caught by paedophile hunters identified a “four-decade” gap between himself and the decoy he was chatting with.Stephen Duncan was placed on the Sex Offenders Register at Dundee Sheriff Court.
For two weeks in March this year, he ‘communicated indecently with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl called Abi Sheldon.
In fact, the 62-year-old was speaking with vigilante paedophile hunter Claire Simpson.
Duncan, of Broughty Ferry Road, will be sentenced in the new year.
The court heard that Ms Simpson, operating as a decoy under the name Abi Sheldon, was active on a dating site with a minimum user age of 18 but used a child's image as the profile picture.
Duncan first contacted this account on March 9, and after initially not responding, he messaged “hiya honey,” to which the decoy replied “I’m Abi, I’m 14.” Duncan continued the conversation, claiming he was 61 at the time, and asked for photos.
After exchanging numbers and moving to WhatsApp, Duncan received a picture of a child and responded with “Wow”.
He continued making conversation and made a comment about breasts, while also instructing the decoy to keep their chats secret.
Two days later, Duncan told the decoy not to send pictures to men on the dating app and not to engage in “sexy chat.” He then responded to the decoy’s age, joking that he was four decades older, and expressed concern for her safety online.
He asked if anyone knew about their chat, to which she said no, and Duncan responded “Good girl.” Duncan then requested images of her legs, body, and breasts.
The decoy sent a photo of her legs, but Duncan persisted in asking for a picture of her breasts, continuing to chat.
Duncan was ultimately confronted by paedophile hunters on March 30, and police arrived to find him on the phone saying, “I’ve been silly, I was speaking to 14-year-old girls when I’m drunk.” He pled guilty to communicating indecently with what he believed to be an older child.
Sentencing was deferred until January 31 for reports, but Duncan was made subject to registration requirements immediately.
