Man pressured girl (12) into sending photos online

A mother was concerned when she discovered her 12-year-old daughter had been using her mobile phone to communicate with an unknown man on Instagram and she contacted the police.

Officers traced Aiden Love (34) through his user name, Andsmi2024, and he admitted having sent the youngster sexual images and a video and coerced her to reciprocate with photos of herself he described as ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’.

The girl told police that Love said he was 14, his name was Andrew and he belonged to Inverness, Wick Sheriff Court was told.

Grant McLennan said that the two had been exchanging messages during March and early April last year and that the traffic had been “normal” to begin with.

The fiscal depute continued: “However, the accused began to ask her for pictures of herself of an explicit nature, despite her telling him she was 12 or 13 years old.”

Mr McLennan said that the girl stated that the accused repeatedly asked her to send photos of herself and she sent him various images of her face to begin with, but when pressured, ended up messaging him with other pictures of her body.

“In response, Love would reply that it was ‘hot’ or ‘sexy’,” added the fiscal depute.

The social media conversations ended on April 9, after the girl’s mother became aware of her online contact with him.

Police obtained sufficient intelligence on the girl’s phone to visit Love at his home with a search warrant. The accused provided the pin code to his phone, giving officers access to the illegal material.

Love made no reply when cautioned and charged.

Sheriff Neil Wilson continued the case until July 8 for a background report and an assessment of the accused’s suitability to participate in the Moving Forward, Making Changes Programme.

The accused is duty bound to place himself on the sex offenders register.

His mobile phone was forfeited.