A man who sent a child intimate images and groped him under a blanket has been warned he faces prison for the “grave” offences.
Thomas Baird, 30, encouraged the boy – who was over 13 but under 16 and cannot be identified for legal reasons – to view explicit images of men and women to “see if he liked both”.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told the abuse and grooming came to light after the child’s mother discovered Baird, who was married at the time of the offences but is now divorced, had sent an animation featuring a novelty sex toy to the boy.
Baird, 30, of Ness Gardens, Invergordon, admitted a single charge of engaging in sexual activity with or towards a child between December 2018 and January 2020.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir explained that the boy had allowed Baird access to his Snapchat account for other reasons but Baird took the opportunity to add users who shared explicit content to the boy’s account.
Abuser Thomas Baird told boy explicit content was ‘normal’
Mr Weir said: “The accused added people to his account who sent sexual images and videos and told the complainer he would ‘get used to it’ and it was normal to get these things.
“The accused also added him to a Snapchat group where intimate images were traded and encouraged him to send images of himself to the group.
“Although the complainer told the accused he was straight, the accused encouraged him to get images of males and females to see if he liked both.”
Mr Weir said that Baird had also shared “before and after” images of his penis when he underwent a vasectomy and circumcision and pressured the boy to reciprocate.
Boy called abuser ‘disgusting’
On another occasion, Baird sat next to the child on a sofa and pulled a blanket over them before touching the boy’s private parts over his clothing, prompting the teen to tell him his behaviour was “disgusting”.
The child’s mother became worried after discovering Baird had sent an animation featuring a novelty sex toy to the boy and she found a Facebook chat entitled “shenanigans” between them.
She voiced her concerns and authorities were contacted.
The boy was interviewed on more than one occasion, eventually revealing the extent of Baird’s behaviour.
Solicitor Clare Russell, for Baird, told Inverness Sheriff Court her client was in full-time employment, but reserved any comments in mitigation for a sentencing hearing.
Sheriff Gary Aitken deferred sentence to next month for the production of reports.
Baird was warned: “This is a grave charge and a custodial sentence of a considerable length is a real possibility.”