A man has been warned he could face jail after admitting a string of sexual offences involving children.
Murray Temple appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to a total of nine charges.
The full narration of events was not read out at the hearing, but court documents revealed Temple, 24, had in his possession “numerous” indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between June 30, 2016, and February 12 last year.
Temple also pleaded guilty to having sex with a boy under the age of 16 between May 1, 2016, and July 20, 2016.
He further admitted sending the same child a message which referred to carrying out a sex act on him.
Temple also repeatedly sent messages of a sexual nature to a young boy and induced him to send indecent photos of himself on various occasions between September 16, 2016, and November 29, 2016.
He also sent the same child indecent images of himself.
Another boy was sent an indecent photograph by Temple, who went on to tell him he intended to spread sexual rumours about him amongst his peers.
He sent an indecent image, purported to be from the boy, to two other children under the age of 16.
Gail Goodfellow, Temple’s solicitor, said there were some issues with the Crown’s narrative of events, centering around the charge of having sex with the child.
She said her client had believed the boy was of legal age until he met him, adding that he decided to go ahead with the sexual encounter “in the heat of the moment”.
Sheriff Philip Mann told Temple: “I’m going to fix what’s known as a proof of mitigation.
“That’s to allow the court to determine exactly how your contact with the complainer in charge 4 (relating to the boy Temple had sex with) came about.”
He added: “These are serious offences. There’s a very high probability it will result in a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Mann granted a motion for forfeiture of a mobile phone and laptop belonging to Temple, and deferred sentence for social work reports until June.
He also made Temple, whose address was given in court papers as South Road, Ellon, subject to the notification requirements of the sex offenders act.
