Prison officials have received “concerning information” that a convicted paedophile made sexual calls to an underage girl while locked up inside HMP Grampian.
Joshua Parkinson, 30, was jailed in June this year at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after he sent sickening sexual messages to what he believed was a 12-year-old girl.
The paedophile appeared in the same court again this week and admitted communicating sexually with children.
As Sheriff Ian Wallace prepared to sentence Parkinson to more jail time, he spoke of “concerning information” that had come to light.
It is understood he was referring to claims that while in the Peterhead prison Parkinson made several calls and sent letters to a girl aged around 16 or 17, where they discussed sex.
Parkinson’s defence solicitor, Lynn Bentley, said her client denies any wrongdoing.
‘I’m blocking you, you perv’
On the latest charges facing Parkinson, fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told the court that as part of an ongoing police operation to target online child sexual exploitation, several decoy accounts were set up on the social media app.
On July 1 2019, Parkinson made contact with a profile by the name of ‘Mariena’ and who informed him she was 15 years old.
Parkinson soon asked her to perform sex acts on herself and also phoned her, forcing her to end the call by claiming her mother was there.
He then sent a message asking what she was wearing and when she responded with a picture of her wearing a hoodie, to which Parkinson replied: “That’s too many clothes.”
Ms Martin said that Parkinson then forwarded of images of his private parts, before asking her “what age are you again?”
She said, “15 and three quarters”, to which Parkinson replied: “Perfect, I love underage.”
On August 11, 2020, Parkinson began chatting with another profile and asked her: “Do you like older British guys?”
She replied that she was 14, after which Parkinson asked her to send pictures of her breasts and if she was into bestiality.
He then asked her if she wanted to have sex “on cam” to which the girl replied: “Ew.”
Parkinson told her it was “not a problem”, prompting her to respond by stating: “Yes, it is a problem because you’re the same age as my older brother and I’m only a teenager and you’re an adult. I never want to talk to you again so I’m blocking you, you perv.”
‘Younger the better’
On January 25 2021, Parkinson began communicating with an undercover police officer who was using the profile named Amelia and who claimed to be 11 years old.
Parkinson then lied and said he was 15 years old and requested intimate photographs of her in her underwear.
As the conversation continued, Parkinson admitted he was older than 15, and when Amelia asked if it would get her in trouble, he replied: “As long as we keep it a secret, we’ll be fine.”
The following day, while Parkinson was chatting to another female profile who said she was 15, he asked her to send picture.
She sent a clothed picture of herself, at which point Parkinson asked if she had any others from when she was younger, stating: “The younger the better.”
Parkinson began conversing on the chat platform with another girl, who said she was 15.
In the dock, Parkinson pleaded guilty to four charges of engaging in communication with what he believed to be a child under 16 years of age for sexual gratification.
He admitted one additional charge of chatting with what he believed to be a child under 16 years of age, but who was actually an undercover police officer.
Defence solicitor Lynn Bentley suggested that her client could serve a community-based disposal and told the court that her client “presents as someone who desperately needs to address the origins of his offending”.
“He is not in any way trying to minimise his offending – he knows it was wrong,” she added.
“There’s a stark choice today, but it’s my belief that the public would be better protected with the imposition of [community] orders.”
‘Concerning information’
Sheriff Ian Wallace referred to the “concerning information” that has come to light about Parkinson’s behaviour in prison.
Ms Bentley agreed with the sheriff that it was “concerning”.
Sentencing Parkinson, Sheriff Wallace told him he was satisfied that there was no alternative to a custodial sentence in his case.
“This needs to send a message to you that your behaviour must change, and a custodial sentence seems the only way to do that,” he added.
He also referred to the new information understood to refer to Parkinson contacting an underage girl while in prison as “of significant concern”.
Sheriff Wallace sentenced Parkinson, of Inverurie, to 14 months in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
He also put a sexual harm prevention order in place.
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