Highland man spared jail after trying to arrange sex with girl (11)
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A 31-YEAR-OLD man who pretended to be half his age to get naked images of young girls sent to him received the maximum 300 hours of unpaid work instead of jail.
Kevin Napier, of Blackthorn Road, Inverness, appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court after a background report had been prepared.
But he was warned by Sheriff Margaret Neilson that if he breached the order in any way: "there is only one alternative and it is you will be sent to prison."
Defence solicitor advocate Mike Chapman had urged the sheriff not to send his client to jail.
“He has a childlike response to his behaviour and in prison his vulnerabilities would be exploited,” he told the court.
“The report recommends a stringent community payback order and he would be kept a very close eye on in the community. He has expressed to me some regret for the distress he caused to his victims and he does not wish to re-offend.”
Previously, the court was told that Napier also used a false name on online platform Snapchat to indulge in sexual communications with the youngsters between January 1, 2020 and January 30, 2020.
But Sheriff Neilson was told that on April 21, 2020, Napier offered to buy an 11-year-old girl an Xbox if she met him in nearby woods to have sex with him.
However, the girl was accompanied to the location by her mother and a friend and Napier was filmed on a mobile phone and confronted then reported to the police.
Napier admitted sending sexual communications and meeting with a younger child with the intention of engaging in sexual activity.
Related article: Inverness man offered to buy girl (11) an Xbox in exchange for sex
