Mother's phone paedophile warning

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A mother has warned parents that mobile internet sites can be exploited by paedophiles in the same way as the web.

The warning follows a case at Wick Sheriff Court in which Steven Brodie, 29, from Edinburgh, admitted having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Brodie met the girl through an internet dating site she accessed on her phone.

The girl's mother said the case should act as a warning to parents who thought their children were safe because they did not have a computer at home.

During the court hearing, it emerged that Brodie, of Sighthill Gardens in Edinburgh, had spent two nights sleeping with the girl in her bedroom in Caithness, unknown to her mother.

Depute fiscal Morag McLintock said the pair met when the girl logged into an internet chat room on her phone last year.

Just because children haven't got computers doesn't mean they can't get access to the internet Girl's mother

After striking up a friendship, Brodie and the girl swapped numbers and began texting each other, exchanging 200 messages between them.

At first the girl thought she was talking with a boy of her own age. However, Brodie eventually confided his true age to her.

He drove from Edinburgh to Caithness in November 2006 to meet the 13-year-old.

Ms McLintock said that after meeting up with the youngster, Brodie arranged to stay with the girl at her home while her mother went to work.

The next morning he hid in the house while the woman took her daughter to school.

On arrival the girl handed in a note to staff indicating that she had a dental appointment.

Sex offenders register

Brodie then picked her up in his car and drove her back home, where they had sex on a number of occasions throughout the day.

Brodie again stayed in the girl's bed overnight while her mother slept just yards away.

After he returned to Edinburgh, the girl confided to friends that she was having a relationship with a 28-year-old man.

Chat rooms like the one she was using don't have age restrictions so predatory adults can access them Girl's mother

A short time later one of the girls' friends informed her mother who contacted police.

Investigators discovered that Brodie had also met a 15-year-old girl through an internet chat room in the Highlands and had had sex with her too.

Sheriff Andrew Berry deferred sentence at Wick Sheriff Court for background reports and put Brodie on the Sex Offenders Register.

After the hearing, the 13-year-old's mother said: "I hope that people who don't have computers in their homes and think they are safe from this sort of thing happening now realise that they aren't.

"Their daughters can access the internet on their mobile phones, and chat rooms like the one she was using don't have age restrictions so predatory adults can access them.

"This could happen on a school bus at any time to anyone's daughter. Just because children haven't got computers doesn't mean they can't get access to the internet."