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Prison officer Peter Sugden, who delivered sex offender programmes, caught sending messages to girl, 13
- Peter Sugden, a 46-year-old prison officer from Falkirk who delivered sex offender programmes, was caught sending indecent messages in June 2024 to a profile he believed was a 13-year-old girl from Essex.
- Sugden’s actions followed his criminal behaviour involving sexualised exchanges with a decoy account managed by an online protection team and subsequent confrontation by a paedophile-hunting group at his home on June 27.
- In his police interview, Sugden admitted to frequently sending messages before work and during lunch breaks over a 16-day period, while a phone search uncovered 12 child abuse images classified from the most severe category A to C, dated from early 2019 up to mid-2024.
- On April 2 at Falkirk Sheriff Court, Sugden admitted to creating indecent images of children and attempting inappropriate communication with a child, resulting in a three-year Community Payback Order including 210 hours of unpaid work, along with being registered as a sex offender.
- Sugden lost his job, marriage, and social ties, with the court noting his efforts at rehabilitation, while prosecutors affirmed accountability and stated this case signals action against similar offending.
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Prison officer who messaged fake profile of girl, 13, while at work spared jail
Peter Sugden, 46, of Falkirk, sent numerous indecent messages and sexual remarks to the fictional teenager over the course of 16 days. A prison officer who preyed on who he thought was a 13-year-old girl during his lunch breaks using a messaging app has been spared jail. Peter Sugden, 46, began communicating with the Kik profile in June 2024, believing it belonged to a young girl from Essex. However he was actually messaging a volunteer from an …
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Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Center
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