Peter Sugden 46

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A prison officer who preyed on who he thought was a 13-year-old girl during his lunch breaks using a messaging app has been spared jail.

Peter Sugden, 46, began communicating with the Kik profile in June 2024, believing it belonged to a young girl from Essex.

However he was actually messaging a volunteer from an online protection team, who was managing the decoy account.

Sugden, of Falkirk, sent indecent messages and sexual remarks to the fictional teenager over the course of 16 days.

So-called paedophile hunters managing the account travelled to his home on June 27 and confronted him, and then contacted police.

Sugden was taken to Falkirk police station and made “full and frank admissions”, according to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

He confessed during interview to sending messages before he left for work, at lunchtimes and early in the evening on an almost daily basis.

Sugden’s mobile phone was examined and found to contain 12 images of child abuse, ranging from category A to C, according to prosecutors.

Sugden appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court on April 2 and admitted taking or making indecent images between March 2019 and June 2024.

He also admitted attempting to indecently communicate with a child.

He was given a three-year community payback order at the same court on Tuesday and will be subject to supervision and restrictions.

He was also added to the sex offenders register.

Helen Nisbet, procurator fiscal for Tayside, Central and Fife, said: “Peter Sugden deliberately conducted a sexualised exchange online with someone he thought to be a 13-year-old girl.

“Following his arrest, his phone was found to contain several images containing child sexual exploitation and abuse.

“Sugden has now been held accountable for his predatory and exploitative conduct, and we hope this prosecution makes clear that we will take action against those who commit this type of offending.”

The Scottish Prison Service has been contacted for comment.