Creep snared by paedophile hunters made chilling confession on livestream
A creep who was caught out by vigilante paedophile hunters confessed on a livestream to grooming at least 10 under-age girls.
David Smith was confronted by members of the group and when they asked how many times he had sex chats with children he said: "It must be in double figures."
Smith, 52, used his own name and claimed to be 20 years younger when he sent pictures of his own genitals to girls he believed were 13 and 14.
He was unaware he had been duped into communicating with three decoy profiles until the paedo hunters turned up on his doorstep to quiz and film him.
Smith had told the 'girls' - who were adults posing as children and using adapted images of themselves for profile pics - that he was "horny" and encouraged them to carry out sex acts.
Fiscal depute Jennifer Bairner told Perth Sheriff Court that Smith sent friend requests to the decoy Facebook profiles and claimed he was a hotel worker in his 30s from Scotland.
He told one: "It's OK, it will be our secret" after sending a picture of his erect penis. He sent further explicit images after asking the girl if she was at school at the time.
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At one point he moved the conversation to WhatsApp and sent another picture of his penis to one girl "so you know it's me from this."
The grooming of the girls lasted for several months until the vigilante group tracked his home address and turned up on June 10 last year to confront him.
"They attended to challenge the accused," Mrs Bairner said. "It was on a Facebook livestream on the Child Protection Team UK. He admitted he was sexually attracted to children."
Asked how many he had communicated with, he replied: "It must be in double figures. I'm sorry I did this. I don't go looking for children. I've not molested any children."
Smith, from Perth, admitted three grooming charges as well as a charge of having child pornography showing images of children as young as three years old.
Sentence was deferred for background reports and Sheriff Simon Collins remanded Smith in custody.
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