A serial north-east sex offender has been jailed after he breached his order and was caught chatting with teenage boys in the street.
Matthew Taylor approached the group of youths outside Marks and Spencer in Inverurie where he did a dance and told the children that he “liked both boys and girls”.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 31-year-old also showed the teenagers a YouTube video of him doing a dance routine.
He was also found with a picture of his private parts on his phone, which he had sent to a woman, the court was told.
Taylor, who has a string of sexual offences dating back to 2016, was sent back to prison in November last year after breaching his sex offences prevention order for the sixth time.
Accused danced for kids
Fiscal depute Jennifer Pritchard told the court that on the evening of September 20 last year, three teenage boys saw Taylor on a park bench chatting with two of their friends.
She stated that Taylor spoke “happily” with the teenagers and even performed a dance for them.
He also showed the group a YouTube video of him performing a dance routine.
A member of the public who was walking past observed Taylor talking to the children and heard him speaking about “shoving an item up his bum” and how he liked both boys and girls.
The man felt this was inappropriate and contacted the police.
Taylor was additionally charged with having a sexual image of his own private parts that he had deleted in order to fool the police.
It was later found in the ‘recycle bin’ on his mobile phone.
It is believed he then forwarded that picture to a woman he was chatting with online.
Taylor pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching his sexual offences prevention order by deleting images on his phone.
He also admitted to one charge of chatting to children under the age of 16 outside Marks and Spencer in Inverurie.
‘There is a significant sexual aspect’
Defence agent Leonard Birkenshaw told the court that the woman Taylor had sent the sexual image to was “of an appropriate age and had requested it”.
He added: “He was, however, in breach of his order and he accepts that.”
In relation to the charge of chatting with children, Mr Birkenshaw added that his client had often gone to the park bench outside Marks and Spencer as he could get wifi there and listen to music.
“The children were asking him questions and he felt he couldn’t just walk away, but he knows he should have done,” he said.
“He then made stupid comments and he admits he did do that.”
Sheriff Ian Wallace told Taylor that he was satisfied that there was “a significant sexual aspect” to his offending and that “only a custodial sentence is appropriate”.
He sentenced Taylor, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, to 18 months in prison and made him subject to the sex offender’s register for 10 years.
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