East Lothian delivery driver caught by paedophile hunters

Alexander Potter sent disgusting messages including “do you want daddy to take your virginity?” to the online profile of a girl called ‘Scarlett’.

Depraved Potter, 47, continued to send sexual messages to ‘Scarlett’ despite repeatedly being told she was only 14-years-old and was still at school.

The driver, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, also made contact with a second online account who he believed to be a teenage girl called ‘Lucy’ telling her he wanted to meet up for sex.

The sordid messages sent to ‘Lucy’ included “I want to meet you, I want to kiss you” and “I could go to jail but I still want you”.

Both online profiles had been set up by adult decoys connected to the paedophile hunter groups Maximum Exposure UK and Groom Resistors UK who passed the correspondence onto the police.

Potter admitted indecently communicating with who he believed to be two children when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month and was back in the dock for sentencing.

Lawyer Angela Craig, defending, told the court her client now has an outstanding matter which was allegedly committed since his last court appearance.

Sheriff Alistair Noble said: “You have pled guilty to two charges which plainly are seriousness enough for imprisonment.

“You engaged in online communication with two decoys who you believed to be 14-year-old girls.

“[According to the report] you have a limited understanding to the gravity of this matter.

“As I said this is a case that could attract custody, but I am not persuaded that it is necessary to impose custody today.”

Sheriff Noble placed Potter on a social work supervision order and on the Sex Offenders’ Register for three years.

The father-of-two has also been banned from having unsupervised contact with any child under the age 16 with the exception of his own children.

He will also have to hand over any internet device for inspection on request and is not allowed to delete any internet history on devices he owns.

Potter’s not guilty plea to arranging to meet with one of the girls for sex at a caravan park in Dunbar was accepted by the Crown.

Previously fiscal depute Gavin Whyte told the court Potter had contacted the ‘Scarlett’ account on the Hi5 social media site and sent her “flirtatious” messages in August 2019.

The online chats moved over to WhatsApp where the pervert demanded the youngster send him pictures of her dressed in her school uniform.

He also made comments describing sex acts he wanted the girl to engage in and sent her messages such as “[I want to] kiss your sweet lips while sitting on my lap” and “as long as no one sees us it will be OK”.

His messages also included “we would have to do it where we would not be seen.. like the woods or a building somewhere”.

Potter also sent comments such as ‘don't worry I don't want you getting pregnant’ and ‘do you want daddy to take your virginity?’”

The prosecutor added Potter also made contact with ‘14-year-old Lucy’ on the Kick platform and his profile included his image and the name Alex P.

The fiscal said the explicit messages sent in September 2019 included “I want to meet you, I want to kiss you” and “I could go to jail but I still want you”.

Both adult decoys subsequently contacted the police and handed over their online chat logs they had collected.

Potter pleaded guilty to sending sexual communication and repeated sexual remarks to an adult pretending to be a child, encouraging her to send him a picture of herself in a school uniform, describing sexual activity with her and encouraging her to call him ‘daddy’ at an address in Dunbar, East Lothian between August 26 and September 29, 2019.

He also admitted sending written communication to a second adult pretending to be child and asking to kiss her and have sex with her between September 22 and October 1, 2019.

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