Perv caught in child protection group sting
A Perth pervert, caught in a sting operation asking a 14-year-old girl to speak with him on the phone while he carried out a sex act on himself, claimed it had “started out as a bit of fun”after one or two beers.
But Sheriff Lindsay Foulis dismissed 58-year-old bricklayer Donald Griffin’s explanation to a social worker as “verging on the incomprehensible”.
He told him: “Even if the initial contact was because of the consumption of alcohol, done in a manner which you thought was harmless fun, it was totally ill-advised.”
Noting that the accused, of Kinloch Terrace, had been in touch with the female several times over a 13-day period, the sheriff added: “The repetition of the behaviour tends to blow that particular explanation out of the water.”
The court was told that Griffin thought he was communicating with a 14-year-old called ‘Doni Gray’.
But he was actually speaking to a woman operating a decoy Facebook account using a mobile number provided to her by Child Protectors’ Scotland.
He initially set up a fake Facebook profile in the name of Lee Griffin, claiming to be 17.
But his cover was blown when eight members of the group turned up at his home - and his partner contacted the police, thinking it was a case of mistaken identity.
A first offender, the accused was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work on Wednesday and will be supervised for three years.
He will also have to take part in the Moving Forward, Making Changes programme, run by the Tay Project, which aims to rehabilitate sex offenders.
In addition, his name was added to the Sex Offenders’ Register for three years.
Depute fiscal Gail Russell said within five-10 minutes of making contact, Griffin said he wished to meet the teenager.
“The next day the accused messaged her asking to see her naked breasts and stated he had masturbated whilst thinking about her.
“Further messages were received by her telling her he loved her, he was thinking about her and stating “she made him horny”
Members of the Child Protection Group later went to Griffin’s home in Letham in a bid to confront him.
His partner said they had the wrong name - he was Donald Griffin.
Officers later obtained a search warrant and seized an iPhone which contained messages sent to the teenage girl and an image used by him to create his Facebook profile in the name of Lee Griffin.
Solicitor Alan Rodgers said he wished to “publicly apologise” for his client’s actions.
“He does struggle to explain his behaviour. He became enraptured with the idea of illicit conversations but has no excuse or explanation.”
The lawyer added: “He has expressed remorse and regret. It wasn’t a prolonged course of conduct - it was a relatively short lurch downhill.
“In terms of harm caused, it was to his own life, character and reputation.
“There were no under-age people harmed - it was an adult.”