A former Moray Council youth worker who abused his position of trust by having sex with a “vulnerable” schoolgirl has been jailed for eight months.
Daniel Edwards, 39, engaged in sexual activity with the girl on various occasions over two years, when she was 16 and 17.
Elgin Sheriff Court was told Edwards, of Clergy Street in MacDuff, carried out sex acts with the teenager, had sex with her and also sent her sexual text messages and photographs by mobile phone between 2013 and 2015.
Defence lawyer Stephen Carty said: “The offence is one where the sexual contact between the accused and complainer took place when the complainer was over the age of 16.
“This is an abuse of a position of trust, accepted by Mr Edwards.
“This conduct should not have taken place given the position he was in but there was no suggestion of any duress or coercion placed on the complainer.
“He has not groomed this girl from an early age.
“He will not be allowed to work with children or vulnerable persons in the future.”
Sheriff Chris Dickson told Edwards: “This was a serious abuse of trust involving a young girl who had certain vulnerabilities.
“Given the gravity of the offence I consider a custodial sentence is the only appropriate method of dealing with you.”
The sheriff also placed Edwards on the sex offenders’ register for a period of 10 years.