East Lothian pervert caught in paedophile hunter group sting escapes jail term
A pervert caught sending disgusting sexual communication to who he believed to be a young child has escaped a jail sentence.
James Wilson, 38, contacted an online account in the name of ‘13-year-old Isla’ and began sending repeated requests that she post him indecent naked images of herself.
Wilson also encouraged the ‘child’ to view online pornography and sent her a link to the adults-only Pornhub website during the sordid contact.
But Wilson was snared after it emerged he was contacting an adult decoy from the paedophile hunter group Scotland’s Child Protection Team ASA who had set up the account in a bid to catch online predators.
Members of the hunter group carried out an online sting at his former home in West Barns, East Lothian, that was live streamed on Facebook and Wilson was eventually arrested and charged.
He denied the allegations against him and stood trial accused of sending sexual communication to who he believed to be a child in September 2021 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year.
The court heard from the member of the hunter group who confirmed she had set up the online account in the name of ‘Isla’ on the adult dating site Tagged. The woman said she was contacted by Wilson and had told him several times she was just 13 years old but he had continued to send messages.
The witness said she began to receive requests for naked pictures and that Wilson had talked about watching pornography and had sent her a link to the Pornhub site.
Following the evidence Sheriff Joseph Stewart found Wilson guilty of the offence of attempting to communicate indecently with a child. He had previously pleaded guilty to an offence of breaching a bail order prohibiting him from possessing a mobile phone or computer without permission when he was found to have two phones between July 12 and 25 2023.
Wilson returned to the dock for sentencing on Monday, October 20, where Sheriff Stewart decided against a custodial sentence and instead imposed a community-based disposal.
Wilson was placed under the supervision of the social work department for 12 months and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for 12 months and handed a conduct requirement that bans him having contact with any child under the age of 18 without prior approval.
Following the guilty verdict in August, local residents in the East Lothian village staged a protest outside Wilson’s home but it later emerged he had fled the area. He is now believed to be living in the north of Scotland.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7.45pm on Monday, 25 August, 2025, we were made aware of a group of people gathered in the Edinburgh Road area of West Barns. Officers attended and engaged with the crowd which later dispersed.”