A sex fiend has whinged about being forced to flee to England to find work after being outed as a paedophile who groomed a 13-year-old girl online.
Iain Moody said one of the repercussions of him appearing in court was that he had been forced to look for work away from Scotland because of his conviction. Moody admitted sending sexually graphic messages to a child.
He claimed he met ‘Dani’ on the Fast Flirting adult dating website after his sexual relationship with his partner broke down during Covid lockdown. But Moody carried on sexual conversations with ‘Dani’ after being told she was 13 and became increasingly graphic during a stream of text messages.
Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC placed him under supervision and on the Sex Offenders Register for two years and ordered him to carry out 188 hours unpaid work.
She said: “You communicated with someone you thought to be a 13-year-old girl in a sexually explicit manner. You were undeterred when told her age. You appear to minimise things.”
Solicitor Jamie Baxter, defending, said Moody had lost his relationship, his job and contact with his family as a result of the conviction. Mr Baxter said: “He lost his job as a result of publicity for this case. It is his intention to move to England to get away. He has a job in place.”
Perth Sheriff Court heard how Moody, 42, sent graphic sexual messages to ‘Dani’ after she told him she was 13 and getting ready to go to school. Moody engaged in a sex act and told the girl she should join in – unaware that the person running the online teenage girl’s profile was an undercover police officer.
Fiscal depute Duncan McKenzie said: “The ‘child’ was in fact an undercover police officer. They received a number of messages from a Dan King, which was the accused.” Dani told Moody she was 13 and from Birmingham and he replied: “Ah, sorry, didn’t realise how young you were.”
But Moody carried on the online conversation and quickly turned the subject to sexual activity and telling the girl to bunk off school for the day.
Officers from the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit had the information forwarded to them and an early morning raid was carried out at his former home in Rattray, Perthshire.
Moody was found within the address.
Moody, now of Gardeners House, Pitcairlie, Fife, admitted carrying out a grooming offence between 19 and 22 June last year. Sheriff Bain heard Moody had a previous conviction for a sexual offence and said: “This is a truly appalling set of circumstances.”
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