A Moray pervert who travelled 200 miles to meet a 14-year-old girl was snared by a vigilante group and could now face imprisonment.
Alexander Elliott arrived at a Greggs branch in Glasgow’s George Square expecting a teenager called “Poppy” to meet him.
The 45-year-old had come from Elgin with a packet of condoms in his pocket but did not find his prey waiting for him.
Instead, Elliott was confronted by members of the Wolfpack Hunters group who confronted him and alerted the police.
He now faces jail after he admitted contacting what he believed was a 14-year-old girl and sending indecent images online.
Glasgow High Court heard he had believed he was grooming the girl for months, having been in touch with “Poppy” via WhatsApp and another app called Waplog.
Elliott passed on his phone number – despite being told he was chatting to an apparently underage girl – and at one point told her “I think you look pretty”.
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He asked for his target to send him photographs and claimed “Poppy” was now his girlfriend – though he warned her that she should not tell her mum.
Elliott then went on to arrange the meeting at Greggs, only to then find himself facing-off with members of the Wolfpack group as he sat on a nearby bench.
Prosecutor Richard Hill told the court: “They confronted Elliott in George Square.
“He said he was there to meet a friend, adding he was in love with her.”
Police were informed and Elliott was arrested later that afternoon.
Officers went on to find he had condoms and two mobile phones in his possession.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC told the accused: “I will continue bail in the meantime but this won’t restrict what I can do in this case.
“Everything will remain open.”
Elliott, of South College House in Elgin, pled guilty to two charges, the first that between March 3 and May 18 last year, at an address in Aberdeenshire, he repeatedly sent written sexual communications to a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl named Poppy, but who was in fact an adult female, requesting that she engage in sexual activity with him and sent indecent messages to a child.
He also admitted making arrangements for a person he believed to be a child to travel to meet with him with the intention of engaging in unlawful sexual activity.
Elliott will be sentenced next month. He has been placed on the sex offenders register.
