An engineer who boasted about having a Mercedes and thought he was asking two young girls for naked photos has been placed under supervision.
Barry McBride was instead chatting on Facebook to ‘decoys’ posing as the teenagers in a bid to catch paedophiles.
The 42-year-old pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to asking for indecent pictures of an older child.
McBride was put under supervision and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for three years at Tuesday’s sentencing.
The decoys from a vigilante group created Facebook profile accounts for Lydia Harvey-Wilson and Stevie-Jay Whitt.
Prosecutor Christopher McKnight stated: “Lydia received a Facebook message from McBride on July 27, 2020, she accepted this, and McBride began a conversation with her.
“Lydia informed him of her age and he said ‘kinda jailbait lol’.
“They continued to converse and Lydia asked for a picture of him.
“He sent a picture [of] himself topless with visible tattoos and then asked Lydia if [she] could send a naked picture of herself.
“She refused and asked him to send a photo, which he did.”
The conversation stopped when McBride deleted her from Facebook.
Mr Knight continued: “He then friend requested another 14-year-old, Stevie-Jay.
“They began a conversation and she informed him of her age and called her ‘jailbait’.
“He sent her the same image and requested a picture.
“She told him she was embarrassed.
“He told her about his children and that he drove a Mercedes and offered to go and get her from England if she wanted to see him.”
The decoy team informed the police and McBride, of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was identified through screenshots the decoys had saved.
Keith Tuck, defending, said: “He’s had difficulty with drinking to excess and his mental health is not the best.”
Sheriff Johanna Johnston QC told him: “You have accepted responsibility for this. Parliament has put laws in place to protect these children.”
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