The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sex offender in court over order breach
A“high risk” sex offender has admitted breaching strict court orders by opening a savings account.
Ryan Strathie avoided a jail sentence in 2020 after he was caught grooming a 14-year-old boy on Facebook.
He was placed on the sex offenders register for three years after Perth Sheriff Court heard he sent a series of sexually explicit messages to the youngster.
Strathie, 25, returned to the same dock yesterday and admitted he failed to comply with sex offender notification requirements.
The court heard he did not tell police about his new bank account within three days.
Paedophile Strathie, who social workers warned posed a serious risk to children, was sentenced to unpaid work.
Depute fiscal Andrew Harding said police officers carried out a routine visit to Strathie’s home in the city’s Nimmo Avenue on May 6, last year.
“The accused was asked if he had any changes to report.
“He stated that he had opened a Santander savings account.”
When police asked when the account was opened, Strathie said he could not recall but he thought it was about a month earlier.
“It turned out the account was opened on February 24,” Mr Harding told the court.
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton, defending, said: “This was a savings account he opened using a mobile phone app.
“Naively, he didn’t think anything of it.
“He didn’t realise at the time that he had to notify police about it.”
She said Strathie was unemployed and unable to pay a fine.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told him: “You need to comply with the requirements of the sexual offences legislation.
“In the circumstances, I can deal with this by way of a monetary penalty.
“However, as you are unable to pay I will impose a community payback order.”
Strathie was ordered to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work within six months.
He remains on the sex offenders register.
Strathie avoided a jail sentence two years ago, despite social workers stating he was at “high risk” of committing further sexual crimes.
The court heard he sent obscene messages to a schoolboy he befriended on Facebook and was eventually reported to police by his own mother.
He described a series of sexual acts he wanted to carry out on the boy.
Strathie was thrown out of his sister’s home after confessing to his contact with the child.
The incriminating messages were discovered when he later used a friend’s mobile phone to log in to his own Facebook account and forgot to log back out.
He was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work.