Jail for Fife man who had sex with an underage girl, encouraged her to self-harm and made violent threats towards her family

Adam Smith, a prisoner at Perth, appeared via video link at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Smith, 22, admitted engaging in a course of conduct which was abusive of his ex-partner including controlling how she dressed, making offensive remarks towards her, inducing her to physically harm herself, threatening her and her family and friends with violence at an address in Glenrothes between March 1, 2020 and January 16, 2021.

He further admitted having sex with the underage teenager on various occasions between June and October 2020.

The Procurator Fiscal Depute told the court the accused had consensual sex on several occasions with the teenage girl, who was just 15 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons.

He said the youngster’s mother repeatedly overheard her daughter crying as Smith encouraged her to punch herself. The accused also demanded money from the girl and threatened violence towards her younger brother.

The depute continued: “She began communicating with the accused online during lockdown restrictions in March 2020 and only met the accused face-to-face in June 2020.

“She was 15 at the time and the accused was 20.

“In June 13, 2020 the complainer arranged to meet the accused at his home, where they engaged in sexual intercourse.”

But he said the accused started to become abusive – making offensive remarks towards her, telling her what clothes to wear and demanding money from her.

The accused also sent the teenager’s mother a number of images which showed her daughter in sexually suggestive poses along with a video clip of her performing a sex act.

The depute said there was a change in the teenage girl’s demeanour which was noticed by her teachers and her mother.

One another occasion the girl’s mother was woken by the sound of screaming from her daughter’s room and she found her on a video call with her other hand clenched, but the girl denied she had been hitting herself.

The depute said at other times the girl’s mother heard the accused telling the teenager to get a knife while she was on calls with him and that the accused had made threats of violence towards her family.

Smith’s defence lawyer said the pair had had consensual sex and that both had previous sexual partners.

He said: “A custodial sentence will be inevitable and he accepts that. He takes some responsibility for his actions and he wants to make clear he would never have carried out the threats he mentioned, but he knows these threats are a serious matter.

"He knows he will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and that will be a punishment in itself.”

Sheriff McFarlane told Smith: “These are disgusting offences and a custodial sentence is absolutely inevitable.”

She jailed him for 28 months and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

She also ordered Smith to be supervised for 12 months after release and placed him on a non-harassment order prohibiting contact with the teenage girl for five years.

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