The father of a teenage girl allegedly raped by a 50-year-old man was “completely broken” when questioned about her contact with him.
Taking to the witness box at the trial of former girls football coach Lee Murray, the dad told how his child was left “emotionally distraught” when he spoke to her after suspicions were raised about the pair.
The man told the High Court at Inverness that his daughter was “crying” and “hysterical” when he confronted her with his concerns.
The court heard that the father had learned about his daughter’s contact with Murray from a third party.
Asked how she had reacted, the father said: “[She] was emotionally distraught. She was crying, she was hysterical, she was on the floor. She was completely broken.”
Murray, 53, the former head coach of Thistle Girls FC, denies a charge of raping the girl when she was 15 at locations in and around Inverness between October 2021 and February 2022, as well as one of communicating indecently with her and causing her to look at a sexual image.
He also faces charges of attempting to communicate indecently with a child and attempting to cause a child to look at a sexual image.
Court hears rape accused contacted ‘child’ decoy online
On the third day of evidence in the trial, the jury also heard from a woman who was contacted online by Murray while posing as a 14-year-old girl.
The 40-year-old – who worked with a voluntary child protection group – had set up a decoy profile on the app Wink, which markets itself as a tool for “dating and friends”.
Murray, then 51, contacted the profile and was immediately told that he was speaking with a 14-year-old named Scarlet.
After moving the conversation to WhatsApp, Murray sent images of Loch Ness and said: “No, I am not the monster; well I could be.”
The pair discussed potentially meeting – both in the Highlands or near her home in the south of England.
The conversation eventually turned sexual with Murray at one point asking: “Do you have big boobs?” He also enquired: “Have you ever touched yourself?”
The woman sent images altered using AI to make her appear younger and Murray told her: “You are so beautiful”
‘I want to touch you’
He later told her: “I want to touch you to kiss and learn you to have sex.”
The court heard that the messages included Murray encouraging the ‘child’ to delete their message exchanges but the woman behind the decoy profile was logging everything.
She also recorded a video call during which Murray was performing a sex act on camera and asked: “You’re enjoying that aren’t you?”
He told her: “That’s what I do when I think of you and look at your photos.”
The woman passed her dossier on to the head of her organisation and a “sting” was then arranged with a similar group in Glasgow, who confronted Murray in the street before passing their evidence to police.
During the video – which was played for the jury – Murray told the volunteers: “I told myself I shouldn’t be doing it” and called his actions “disgusting”.
The trial, before Lord Sandison, continues.
