Glasgow man who posed as teen onlined jailed for sex offences
A Glasgow man who targeted children online all over the UK is behind bars after pleading guilty to a catalogue of sexual offences.
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A Glasgow man who targeted children online all over the UK is behind bars after pleading guilty to a catalogue of sexual offences. Graeme Couper, 45, posed as a 14-year-old on a website and asked a 12-year-old girl to perform a sex act on her webcam for him. He spoke to other victims - all between 12 and 15 years old - on Skype and in some instances a mobile phone. Couper invited the girls to perform on webcams for him and on occasion exposed himself to them. One girl later told police that she needed counselling and suffers from anxiety and depression and “is very wary of trusting people”. Couper, from Pollok, pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to 20 sexual offences charges including exposing himself to some girls and communicating indecently. The offences were carried out between November 2011 and June 2015. Procurator fiscal depute Niall Macdonald told the court: “All of the offences were committed by Couper from his home in Glasgow. “Of these 20 charges, four charges were committed against three younger children who had not attained the age of 13. “Couper has also committed the offence of possessing indecent images of children.” The court heard the charges involve 14 different female victims from different parts of the UK. He started talking to the youngsters on Skype and continued to talk to them on that either in writing or live video camera. Sometimes he spoke to the girls via text message and even asked girls to send him picture message from their mobiles. The court heard the health care support worker used three different Skype accounts to talk to the schoolgirls. Police in Engand contacted Scottish officers in June 2015, after some victims came forward to say they had been targeted by Couper. As a result of a police investigation, officers searched Couper’s home and took computer equipment away. Chat logs from Skype lead police to identify other victims and arrangements were made for local officers to speak to them. On one occasion Couper pretended to be a 14-year-old boy on a website for teens to speak to one girl. He asked her to “be naughty” on camera and tried to persuade her to perform for him. Sheriff John McCormick told Couper: “This is a case involving a catalogue of sexual offences against children spread throughout the United Kingdom over a number of years. “It’s unlikely that there will be any alternative standing the gravity of these offences to a custodial sentence.”