A Moray man who sent indecent images of his private parts to a 13-year-old girl and called it a “drunken mistake” has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.
Callum Bowie sent the photos and video to the child over Snapchat when he was 18 in December 21 2020.
His solicitor claimed this was a two-way conversation but conceded “the difficulty is the age of the complainer”.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard how the pair had been communicating regularly on social media and had met up in the presence of other friends on several occasions.
And while at first they just spoke in “general terms” the Rothes teen changed this when he sent her an explicit image of his private parts with the caption “yes 100%.”
Fiscal depute Karen Poke said this message was followed by another similar image with the caption “you are not, you are a queen”.
“When the complainer questioned why he was sending her these messages he sent a further image,” the fiscal said.
He sent two further indecent images with the captions: “Not even a little bit XX” and “That’s okay, I will use a condom”.
Girl immediately blocked him
The court heard how the young girl blocked Bowie immediately as the messages made her feel “uncomfortable”.
Bowie admitted sending offensive communications to a child.
His defence agent Grant Dalglish said it was a two-way conversation and the “difficulty is the age of the complainer”.
He said Bowie was 18 at the time of the offence but had a maturity beneath his years.
“I am quite confident we will not see him in court again,” Mr Dalglish added.
He said it was a “drunken mistake” and there was no risk that required Bowie to be made subject to the sex offender’s register requirements.
But Sheriff Robert MacDonald disagreed and stated his actions were a “deviance from what society considers acceptable”.
He handed Bowie, 20 – whose address was given in court as Provost Christie Drive Rothes, but is understood not to live there anymore – a one-year supervision order and 80 hours of unpaid work.
He also ordered he be subject to the notification requirements of the sex offenders register for 12 months and take part in the Moray Sex Offenders’ Programme.
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