A 58-year-old man who sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 10 in his home was warned a repeat would result in a “significant jail sentence.”
Malcolm Stone, of Ferry Brae, North Kessock, had been remanded in custody since early September after being arrested for the offence, which he admitted.
Sheriff Gary Aitken refused to free him on bail or sentence Stone until a suitable alternative address was found for him by social workers.
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Yesterday at Inverness Sheriff Court, it was revealed that other accommodation had been located and the sheriff decided against jailing him for kissing the young girl and handling her naked buttocks between August 20 and September 5.
Instead, he imposed a stringent community payback order (CPO) for three years, the same length of time Stone will be on the Sex Offender’s Register.
Stone will be under close social work supervision for that period and have to take part in a sex offender’s rehabilitation programme.
He was also banned from having unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 and prohibited from entering the street where he used to live.
Sheriff Aitken told the obese offender who walks with the aid of a walking stick: “This is an extremely serious charge and my first inclination was to confine you to custody for as long as was competent.
“But that would only release you into the community after a relatively short time. The best way of dealing with you so that you are not a danger to children is to impose an extensive CPO. You will then have the opportunity to address and remedy your attitudes towards children.”
Sentence had been previously deferred for a background and psychiatric report on Stone.
The sheriff continued: “In the reports I have on you, you have sought to minimise your involvement in this matter.
“If you do not properly comply with this order, it will then be reported to this court, you will come back before me and you will be jailed for as long as I am allowed.
“This is your one and only chance. If there is any repeat offending particularly with a child, you will be going to jail for a significant period of time.”
