Jail for man who groomed girls as young as 12 online
A PERVERT who groomed underage girls through a social networking website was jailed f or more than f i ve years yesterday.
David Graves, 20, sent explicit messages to schoolgirls through social media but was caught after a victim’s mother found topless i mages of her 1 2 - y e ar- ol d daughter.
He admitted taking part in sex acts with the girl and another 14-year-old and told police: ‘I know what I did was wrong.’
Graves,who had a stash of child pornography on a computer, was later discovered to have been in contact with a 13-year-old whom he also sexually molested.
The judge, Lord Boyd of Duncansby said: ‘You groomed them via social networking sites and committed the serious offences to which you have pled guilty.
‘You knew it was wrong and you knew the ages of the children involved.’
Graves had persisted in the criminal behaviour even after the mother of one victim had contacted him and
‘You knew it was wrong’
warned she would go the police if was in touch with her daughter again.
Jailing Graves for five years and three months the judge said that he would have sentenced him to seven years’ detention, but for his guilty pleas.
He said: ‘I am satisfied there is no other method of dealing with you other than a custodial sentence in a young offenders’ institution.’
The judge ordered that he be under supervision for a further three years when he can be returned to prison if he breaches l i cence conditions. Graves was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
The court heard that his offending came to light after the 12-year- old had left her phone lying in the living room of her home and her mother l ooked t hrough i t and f ound messages from an older girl to her daughter and semi-naked pictures of her daughter.
Advocate- depute David Nicolson said the mother had then confronted her daughter who eventually admitted that there had been sexual contact with Graves. Her father then called police.
Graves, formerly of Knowehead, Kirriemuir, in Angus, earlier admitted sexually assaulting the three girls and assaulting the youngest on a single occasion in the Angus area.
He also pled guilty to sending sexual communications to children via a social networking website and possessing indecent images of children.
Graves first victim had contacted him through Facebook in 2012 and messages were exchanged, during which she told him she was 14 – a year older than her true age – and he said he was 18.
Mr Nicolson said he later ‘asked her to send a picture of herself, which was followed by a series of sexually explicit messages’. The girl later revealed she had met Graves three times and told him she was only 13.
The 14-year-old girl had met Graves at a fast food restaurant in Forfar, in Angus, where he worked and he had added her name to his Facebook account which led to a series of sexually explicit conversations.
She met him on various occasions last year, with the 12-year-old sometimes also going along.
Mr Nicolson said Graves repeatedly tried to hug and kiss both girls and sexually assaulted them. He would molest the girls and pull down their trousers and expose himself.
Defence counsel Ronnie Renucci said of the first offender that he was ‘a somewhat pathetic and isolated figure’ and added: ‘He presents as a somewhat immature individual.’