A vigilante gang of paedophile hunters snared an Inverness man sending sexual social media messages to one of their group pretending to be a young girl.
Although 52-year-old Steven Williams didn’t write many explicit communications between July 8 and November 20, 2018, he asked for a picture of the “13-year-old girl” naked – unaware it was actually a 38-year-old woman from “Guardians of the North” with whom he was corresponding.
He also said he wanted to be the first to take her ‘V’, which the recipient took to mean her virginity and sent her a diagram of the female reproductive organ.
Williams, of Galloway Drive, Inverness, appeared at the city sheriff court yesterday and admitted sending sexual communications to someone he thought was a child.
Sentence was deferred until November 21 for a background report. His bail was continued and he was immediately placed on the Sex Offender’s Register.
Defence solicitor Marc Dickson said he would reserve his comments until the report had been prepared.
Fiscal depute David Morton said Williams, who admitted to his “victim” that he was aged 51, would communicate almost daily and the sexual messages began with requests for photographs of the “girl” in her nighty or knickers.
The fiscal added: “He also stated he wanted to smack her bare bum and lie in bed with her naked, and that he can’t wait to hold her and touch her.
“The last messages which were received from him was on the morning of November 20, 2018, via Facebook Messenger.
“He replied to a message she put on saying that she was ‘off school cause I slept in.’ His reply was ‘nice 1 a better day for ya than horrid school.’ At that point as is usual practice among vigilante groups, she stopped communicating with Williams and passed the evidence they had gathered to the police.
“Williams was arrested on November 20 and interviewed by officers. He made full admissions.”
