A man has been handed unpaid work after having sex with his step-daughter and even discussing getting married.
The man, in his mid 40s, had sex with the girl, once she turned 16, on a weekly basis in Aberdeenshire after first entering into a relationship with her mother when she was just eight.
The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would leave love bites on her neck and make her promise not to tell anyone.
He even told his step-daughter that he loved her and discussed getting married.
But his sickening conduct came to light when the girl, who the court was told had fallen in love with him, asked her mother what grooming was, and disclosed their relationship to another relative.
Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the girl was just eight when the man began a relationship with her mother and took on a “paternal role”.
Ms MacVicar said the girl had been going through a “difficult period” in relation to her biological father, and that her step-father would “comfort her” and supported her.
Step-father ‘made her promise not to tell anyone’
The girl said she “became closer” with her step-father and that they would be alone together while her mother was at work.
When she was 16 the relationship “changed” and they would hold hands when alone, with the man also touching her legs.
Ms MacVicar said: “If any other family members walked into the room, the accused would quickly pull away.”
He also left “love bites” on her neck, which he “made her promise not to tell anyone about”.
The sexual contact then progressed to kissing.
Ms MacVicar said: “They talked about getting married and that they loved each other.”
They first engaged in sexual intercourse, which was consensual and planned, in 2019 when the girl’s mother was at work.
This then became a regular occurrence, “at least once or twice a week”.
Ms MacVicar said: “The accused told the complainer every day that he loved her.
“The accused and complainer had signals which were used between the two to convey words that they couldn’t say out loud and they had code words to describe sexual activities.
Accused said step-daughter ‘came on to him’
“The complainer said she fell in love with the accused and that she felt sorry for him because of the issues that she perceived there to be in his relationship with her mother.”
In early 2020 an argument broke out when the girl’s mother came home to find her sitting on the man’s lap.
A month later, the girl “felt betrayed” after witnessing the man and her mother kissing and “being intimate”.
Later that evening she asked her mother what “grooming” was and, when her mother explained, she indicated it had happened to a friend.
Her mother said the friend should tell the police.
Ms MacVicar said: “The following morning, the complainer confronted the accused and said to him ‘I don’t talk to groomers’.
“She went back upstairs and contacted a relative and disclosed what had been happening between her and the accused.”
‘Accused did not think he was doing anything wrong’
The girl then went to a friend’s home where she was picked up by her biological father.
Ms MacVicar said she phoned her mother the next day and disclosed what had happened.
Later that day the girl’s mother spoke to the accused, who said the pair had had sex “twice”, gave no explanation and said it was her who “came on to him”.
The man was later arrested and, during interview, made full admissions about being “in love” with his step-daughter and having a sexual relationship with her.
‘Traumatic experience’
Ms MacVicar said: “The accused did not think he was doing anything wrong as the complainer was 16 years old at the time they commenced their sexual relationship.”
He pled guilty to a charge of communicating indecently, engaging in sexual activity and intercourse with the girl while being a person over 18 in a position of trust and a member of the same household.
Defence agent Leonard Burkinshaw said his client took responsibility for the offence with the position he was in.
He added it had been a “traumatic experience” for the man and had “torn the family apart”.
Mr Burkinshaw said an assessment had deemed the man a low risk of reoffending.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin ordered the man to be supervised for two years and complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
She also ordered him to complete the Maps for Change programme or an alternative, and gave him a six-month curfew.
The man was also made subject to the notification requirements of the sexual offences act for two years.