A former youth football coach who raped and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in his car has been jailed for five years.
Lee Murray, 53, also sent the teenager indecent images of himself and inappropriate messages while proposing to meet up with her.
While on bail, Murray was then exposed in an online sting after sending sexual messages to a woman who had been posing as a 14-year-old girl.
When confronted publicly, Murray was recorded admitting his actions were “disgusting”.
He accepted: “I told myself I shouldn’t be doing it.”
Murray’s offending took place in Inverness between January 2021 and October 2022.
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In July, he was found guilty of four charges following a trial at the High Court in Inverness.
His crimes included rape, sexual assault, communicating indecently with an older child and causing them to look at a sexual image, attempting to communicate indecently with a child and attempting to cause a child to look at a sexual image.
Judge Lord Sandison told the accused that “only a custodial sentence is appropriate in these circumstances”.
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Murray was handed a seven-year extended sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, with five years in jail and two years on licence once released back into the community.
He was also banned from contacting his victim for three years and was added to the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s procurator fiscal for high court sexual offending, said: “Lee Murray held a position of trust within the local community while committing this horrific sexual offending.
“He poses a danger to children and will now have to face the consequences of his actions.”
