Pervert lured to Edinburgh supermarket by paedophile hunting group

Abu Isaac Shalom sent the explicitly sexual messages to the profile of a 14-year-old girl after contacting her on a social media platform.

Shalom, 31, told the youngster he was a qualified masseur and asked her if she had ever seen naked images of men.

The father-of-two was also in contact with a second online profile of a 13-year-old girl and was enticed to meet up with her outside an Edinburgh supermarket in November last year.

But when he got there he was confronted by members of the online paedophile hunter group Maximum Exposure UK who had set up the profiles.

The sting outside the Lidl store at the capital’s West Granton Road was live streamed on the group’s Facebook page and was watched by more than 3000 viewers.

Police were called and after Shalom was arrested the group’s decoys handed over the chat logs they had collected to the officers.

Shalom appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday where pleaded guilty to travelling to meet up with who he believed was a 13-year-old girl with the intention of engaging in unlawful sexual activity with her on November 3 last year.

He also admitted to sending sexual communications to who he believed was a 14-year-old girl for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification at his home address between October 22 and 31 last year.

Fiscal depute Ross Price told the court Maximum Exposure UK set up the online profiles in March last year and were contacted by Shalom who was using the name ‘John’ in October.

The chats between the pair soon turned sexual.

Mr Price said Shalom was also in contact with the second profile and had agreed to meet up with the girl near to his home with the intention of having sexual contact with her.

Shalom is currently studying Theology at Edinburgh University’s School of Divinity and has a degree in Divinity after studying at the United Theological college in Bangalore, India.

Solicitor Leslie Cunningham said she would reserve her mitigation to the sentencing hearing.

Sheriff Peter McCormack placed Shalom on the sex offenders’ register and deferred sentence to next month for reports and a restriction of liberty assessment to be prepared.