An elderly Sutherland man was snared by paedophile hunters after he indecently communicated on a social media chat room with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
The “girl” – calling herself Layla Bennet – was actually a member of a group known as “Saving Children’s Future” and was not using her real name, Inverness Sheriff Court heard.
Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald heard the case at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald that first contact with ‘Layla’ was made by 68-year-old John Floydd on January 5, 2024, and began innocently.
Floydd, of Muirfield Drive, Brora, was told ‘Layla’ was only 13 years old and he continued to send her text messages but it became illegal when he used a chat room to make sexualised comments.
The pensioner also asked the ‘girl’ for a topless photograph of herself, the prosecutor added.
“An evidential package of the communications was received by Police Scotland from Lancashire Police on January 31, 2024. On February 6, members of another group went to the accused’s address. Police had also been contacted and attended to arrest him,” Ms Duffy-Welsh said.
Floydd pleaded guilty to communicating indecently with a child and had sentence deferred until February 25 for a background report. He was also immediately placed on the Sex Offender’s Register.