A man who sent pornographic images to what he thought was a 12-year-old girl has been told his “depraved” actions nearly landed him in prison.
Cameron MacKinnon was caught red-handed when a paedophile hunter group created a fake profile of a young girl who the 64-year-old tried to engage in a sordid online chat.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard how MacKinnon told the “child” he would “tuck her in every night” before forwarding on more graphic sexual images featuring adult sex toys.
After the pair had been chatting for a while, MacKinnon suggested they meet, allowing the hunter group to trace him, find his location and confront him on a live-streamed sting.
Today, his solicitor told the court his client was “ashamed” of his offending behaviour.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston let MacKinnon know that he should consider himself fortunate to have avoided a prison sentence for his “depraved” crimes.
Accused sent pics of himself
Fiscal depute Claire Stewart told the court at a previous hearing that MacKinnon contacted the decoy child in early June this year and asked for her number to chat on WhatsApp.
In the first few messages, the decoy child made clear she was only 12, but MacKinnon was not put off – even commenting that he was old enough to be her father.
Over a number of weeks, MacKinnon became “more familiar” with the child.
He began calling her “honey” and, chillingly, said: “If I was your dad I’d tuck you in every night.”
The fiscal told the court: “He also sent pictures of himself and requested pictures of her, to which the complainer sent him pictures filtered to give the appearance of a female child.”
MacKinnon asked the child to delete photographs and went on to quiz her about the clothes she wears and her “body shape”.
He questioned her about her hormones and asked if she’d “had her period yet”.
‘Kiss your forehead goodnight’
Additionally, he sent the girl photos of women in various states of undress, including pornographic images of females with piercings to their nipples and private parts.
MacKinnon brought up the subject of prostitutes and suggested the child Google the term.
He also asked what she had learned in sex education at school.
In amongst a catalogue of disturbing messages, MacKinnon said: “I will come and tuck you in and kiss your forehead goodnight.”
As the conversation went on, he sent the decoy a photograph of a sex toy and asked if she had a pet name for her private parts.
Eventually, MacKinnon brought up the subject of meet up and sent the child his location, enabling the group to trace him.
MacKinnon, of Calderpark Avenue, Lochwinnoch, pled guilty to attempting to communicate sexually with a young child and cause them to view sexual images between June 1 and 30 this year.
‘His is ashamed of himself’
Defence solicitor John McLeod told the court that, during this period, his client “wasn’t speaking to who he thought he was speaking to”.
“Mr MacKinnon accepted responsibility for this at an early stage and was shocked and surprised to see that his offending was all over social media,” Mr McLeod said.
“He is ashamed of himself and his behaviour – he is at a loss to explain how he became involved in this.
“He has told me this type of thing will never happen again.”
Sheriff Johnston told MacKinnon he had engaged in “vile sexual communication” with what he thought was a female child.
“You acted in a sexually motivated way, and you have shown limited insight into your behaviour,” she said, adding that his behaviour was “depraved”.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Johnston made MacKinnon subject to a community payback order with supervision and ordered him to take part in a sex offenders programme while carrying out 200 hours of unpaid work.
She also placed MacKinnon on the sex offenders register for three years.
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