FRED BEEBY FROM PERTH AND STIRLING JAILED FOR INDECENT TEXTS TO 12-YEAR-OLD BOY
In October 2014, Fred Beeby, a man formerly residing in Perth and now living on Woodside Road in Raploch, Stirling, was sentenced to eight months in prison after admitting to sending inappropriate and indecent messages to a young boy.The incident came to light after Beeby, who was 23 years old at the time, befriended the 12-year-old on Facebook, a social media platform where he sought and obtained the boy’s mobile phone number.
Following this, Beeby began bombarding the young child with explicit text messages, including one particularly disturbing message in which he claimed to be 'naked.' The Perth Sheriff Court heard that the boy, whose identity remains protected, quickly turned off his mobile device upon receiving these messages.
However, he later discovered that Beeby had sent at least one more message, asking whether he had ever touched himself in a sexual manner.
Beeby admitted to sending multiple texts of a sexual and indecent nature on April 23 and 24 of the previous year.
He appeared in court on crutches, with his head bowed, as Sheriff Robert McCreadie expressed his strong disapproval of the offense.
The sheriff ordered Beeby to be placed on the sex offenders register for ten years.
It was also noted that Beeby had a prior conviction from 2009, when he pleaded guilty to harassing a female colleague with hundreds of lewd texts, indicating a pattern of inappropriate behavior.
Furthermore, Beeby, who had recently been released from prison, was sentenced to serve an additional year on license.
The details of the case were outlined by Depute Fiscal Nicola Manison during an earlier hearing.
She explained that the young victim confided in his mother about the nature of the messages, prompting her to contact the police.
The mother had permitted her son to accept Beeby’s Facebook friend request, which facilitated the communication.
Ms.
Manison described how, on April 23, the boy began receiving text messages from Beeby.
After reading the message in which Beeby claimed to be naked, the boy switched off his phone.
The following morning, upon turning his device back on, he found several new messages.
An investigation confirmed that these messages had been sent from Beeby’s phone number, leading authorities to trace him to his home address.
One of the messages, sent at 8:45 pm the night before, contained an explicit sexual question directed at the boy.
Despite his guilty plea last month, Beeby refused to admit to his actions when questioned by social workers preparing a background report.
Sheriff McCreadie commented on this denial, noting that it is a common trait among sex offenders and that it reinforced the necessity of his imprisonment.
Addressing Beeby directly, the sheriff stated, “You pled guilty to a serious offense relating to sexual remarks to a young boy.
You then later denied there was any sexual element when talking to a social worker.
I am satisfied that a custodial sentence is the only suitable disposal and it reflects society’s abhorrence of such conduct.”
