AN ALLOA man will be sentenced next month after he admitted using Facebook to direct vile abuse to three young girls.

Francis Robertson, of Shire Way, appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court on Monday (13 April) charged with one offence of sending threatening communication to a 14-year-old and two counts of sending sexual communications to two girls, aged 15 and 13, respectively.

The 44-year-old approached the high school pupils on the social media site last summer and two of the girls were subjected to vile sexual remarks, while the other was threatened with physical abuse.

On 25 June he began messaging a 14-year-old girl who was known to him.

Depute fiscal Marie-Claire Chaffey told the court how he began talking to her by saying ‘hiya’ before later threatening her.

She said: “The complainer believed the person sending the messages to her was the same age as her but after speaking with him it became apparent that he was not.” Soon after, Robertson became aggressive in his messages and said: “Keep talking...I’ll smash your f***ing face in.” He then directed more abuse at her before threatening to attend her home address.

The court also heard that the entire conversation was captured using screenshots before the girl’s mother contacted the police.

One week later he began messaging another youngster before sending her sexual comments.

He had previously sent a friend request to the 15-year-old girl who accepted as they had a number of mutual friends.

She posted a Facebook status on 1 July, in which she asked: “Why do girls ‘like’ pictures of other girls with their boobs and bums hanging out? Don’t encourage them.” On 2 July, Robertson replied to the public post, saying: “What, have you got small t**s? Is it a lesbian thing?” His remarks caused a backlash from other Facebook users and his comments were deleted.

He also sent another message in which he asked if he could perform a sex act on the youngster.

Robertson later deleted his Facebook profile.

In this case the complainer’s father confronted him at his home address, leading to Robertson calling the police about a ‘disturbance’ at his front door.

When officers arrived, he denied he had sent the messages and later said it had all been a ‘bit of banter’.

Officers later took a statement from the second complainer before Robertson made contact with a third girl on Facebook a month later.

On 2 August he sent a number of private messages to a 13-year-old girl that were ‘sexualised in content’.

He made an explicit comment before asking the youngster: “See when you’ve got a minute, can you send me a photo of your t**s?” The messages were said to have stopped for a few days until 8 August when he asked her if she was a model.

He then sent her: “If you send me photos, I’ll pass them on to a modelling agency.” Robertson also made mention of the school that the youngster attends.

The girl’s mother then sent out a message on Facebook to other parents in the area to check their children’s messages and to keep an eye out for him.

Police arrested Robertson on 29 August and gave a largely no comment interview before making no response to being cautioned and charged.

Mike Lowrie, defending, told the court that Robertson had previously been battling an addiction to drink but has since made notable strides forward since the incidents.

He said: “At the time of the offending my client was in the throes of significant alcohol dependency. However, he has since made significant efforts to address that has been in contact with his GP a number of times.” Mr Lowrie also said that Robertson had ‘turned his life around’ following a shift in his lifestyle.

After considering the submissions, Sheriff David Mackie said he would need to obtain reports before delivering his sentence.

He told Robertson: “I require to obtain criminal justice social work reports before dealing with your sentence.

“There is one matter I have to address you on and that is, as you have pled guilty to these offences, you are now subject to the reporting requirements of the Sexual Offences Act.

“As result of that you must inform police of any change in your address.” Robertson is scheduled to return to Alloa Sheriff Court on 14 May 2015 where he will be sentenced.