A sex offender with a fetish for feet was jailed yesterday after approaching school girls in Moray villages.
Alexander Atkinson, from Dufftown, asked to see the youngster’s toes while they were standing in the street.
Yesterday at Elgin Sheriff Court the 25-year-old was placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years after admitting approaching the girls.
Atkinson told one 11-year-old she had “nice feet” after she removed her shoes for him on June 6, 2010 in Hopeman.
However, the compliment made her feel uncomfortable and she ran away to report the incident to her parents.
He then approached a 12-year-old at a bus stop near Dufftown’s clock tower on September 25 this year.
Atkinson asked the girl if she “liked wearing socks” before asking her to take off her shoes.
After refusing, the child moved to the corner of the bus shelter before calling her mum to say a man had been “creeping” on her.
Defence solicitor Matthew O’Neill told the court it was well-known to social workers that his client “likes feet”.
He said: “He certainly appears to have begun to appreciate the gravity of the mistakes he has made here.
“It’s clear there was some difficulty, on his behalf, comprehending what had gone wrong here and why the behaviour was inappropriate.”
For the next five years, the Speyside resident must inform police about any devices he has that are capable of accessing the internet and when he begins a new relationship.
Atkinson has also been banned from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16 for the same period of time.
Sheriff Chris Dickson said: “These are extremely serious offences involving young children.”
Atkinson, of Balvenie Street, was jailed for a total of 200 days after pleading guilty to two charges of lewd, indecent or libidinous practices, intentionally communicated for the purposes of sexual gratification, humiliation, distress or alarm.
He also admitted a further charge of failing to notify police he was using a username to access the internet without reasonable excuse.