Aberdeen swim coach sentenced for sending child sexual image
Joel Valentine, 27, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday to be sentenced for sending a sexually explicit picture to a 15-year-old boy, whom he knew through swimming, in November 2023.
The court had previously been told that Valentine – the former owner of the Aberdeen Swimming Academy – sent the picture to the teenager on Snapchat after the boy had innocently inquired who was going to win the school's 'assistant of the year' prize.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin branded the crime as 'entirely inexplicable' and handed Valentine 200 hours of unpaid work.
Defence solicitor Jenny Logan, representing Valentine during the case, said her client had now begun attending counselling sessions to deal with alcohol issues in his personal life.
Noting a background report on the former swimming instructor, which she claimed was 'fairly positive', Ms Logan said the offence was 'borne through alcohol misuse'.
'He accepts that,' she added.
'He has also been struggling with his mental health.'
Sheriff McLaughlin, addressing Valentine directly, said she was given 'some comfort' that social workers did not deem him a high enough risk for direct intervention.
Ordering him to complete unpaid work in place of such an order, she said: 'This is otherwise, to me, an entirely inexplicable offence and you will benefit from doing some work with social work around everything that has caused you to commit that offence to make sure nothing similar happens again.'
He will have one year to complete the hours.
Valentine will also fall under the supervision of social workers for the next 18 months and be subject to the sexual offenders notification requirements during that period.
At the case's last calling in July, fiscal depute Stephanie Cardow told the court Valentine struck up a conversation with his underage victim on the evening of November 5.
The boy was invited to a party by Valentine, which he declined, before asking him who would win a prize at the coach's swimming school.
In reply, Valentine, of Rennie's Wynd, ordered the boy to carry out a sex act and then forwarded him a picture of his penis.
The boy responded to Valentine, stating: 'You're an actual weirdo.'
In reply, Valentine sent a further message asking: 'You gay? You gay?'
The boy then blocked Valentine on Snapchat before he was messaged again via Instagram.
Valentine claimed the image was a 'stock image' that had been sent to him from another party.
The teenager reported the incident to the police.
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