An Inverness man who indecently assaulted a teenage girl was jailed for 10 months at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
Ian Shand, 31, claimed he had mistaken the youngster for an older woman.
Sentence had been deferred for a background report.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood said: “The author of the report views his explanation with some scepticism.”
The sheriff criticised Shand’s attitude to his crime because he did not accept he was a sex offender, and added that the “nasty” nature of the attack meant only a custodial sentence was suitable.
First offender Shand, of Glendoe Terrace, was also placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge of fondling the girl as she slept on a sofa in a house in South Kessock on an unknown date in 2014.
Fiscal Roderick Urquhart told the court that the assault came to light when Shand himself went to police to ask for advice after he received a text accusing him of being a “rapist” and told officers his side of the story.
Mr Urquhart added: “But the other witnesses do not back up his story of mistaken identity.”
He told the court that there were significant physical differences between the two women.
Defending, Duncan Henderson tried to persuade the Sheriff to impose a non-custodial sentence.
He said: “He is a first offender, it was a single offence for a short period of time and he himself went to the police. It could be dealt with by unpaid work in the community.”
Sheriff Fleetwood replied: “The difficulty I have is your client’s attitude. He is not accepting he is a sexual offender and any therapeutic disposal is predicated on a desire to change.
“I have to regard this as a nasty sexual assault on a young girl and only a custodial sentence is appropriate.”