Nairn man Craig McNeill preyed on 11 young girls online
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A SHERIFF has jailed for 27 months a Nairn man who preyed on young girls via social media .
Craig McNeill told the girls he would harm their families if they did not send him naked pictures of themselves.
The 22 year-old also sent his victims pictures of himself committing a sexual act.
When he appeared for sentencing today at Inverness Sheriff Court his solicitor Duncan Henderson told Sheriff Margaret Neilson: "I have to accept this is a very worrying and continuing trend of offences."
Mr Henderson asked the court to take account of his client's young age and lack of previous offending.
The solicitor added that he had tried to find understanding of McNeill's behaviour and offending.
"It appears he was on this treadmill of coming home from work and spending time on the internet and he committed these offences.
"It's sad that a man of his age did not have more to occupy himself."
The court had previously been told McNeill of Loch Avenue, Nairn contacted the girls, aged 12 to 16, between February 2018 and November last year on Snapchat.
He admitted 12 charges ranging from extortion to attempted extortion, distributing indecent images and communicating indecently with 11 different girls.
Fiscal Depute Robert Weir told the court at an earlier hearing how one victim received a Snapchat request from McNeill who she didn't know.
She exchanged intimate images with him over a short period of time in 2018, then contact ceased.
But he later contacted her again and said if she did not send more naked images he would share the ones he had on social media.
McNeill also threatened a 13-year-old that he would kill her mother if she did not send intimate pictures of herself.
She sent him two images of herself fully clothed then blocked him.
He told another girl that he was 17 and sent her pictures of a male committing a sex act on himself.
He also contacted numerous other girls also using false names, sending intimate pictures and asking for the same, with threats against them or their families if they did no comply.
The fiscal said he threatened one 12 year-old that he would kill her family, inducing her if she did not send him topless pictures of herself.
Sheriff Neilson in sentencing McNeill told him: "Despite your young age and previous good character, given the sheer scale and nature of the charges only a custodial sentence is approriate."
The Sheriff also placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
