A prison officer who delivered intervention courses to sex offenders has been caught sending messages to a 13-year-old girl during an online sting.

Peter Sugden, 46, believed he was sending sexual messages to a girl from Essex, but was instead communicating with an adult decoy from an online protection team.

A court heard how he has lost his marriage, friends and job due to his criminal behaviour.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said Sugden, of Falkirk, sent indecent messages and made sexual remarks via chat app Kik for more than two weeks in June 2024.

Police were called after he was confronted at his home by the paedophile-hunting group.

During an interview at Falkirk Police Station, Sugden made full and frank admissions.

COPFS said he told officers that the messages were sent before he left for work, at lunchtimes and early in the evening on an almost daily basis.

His mobile phone was examined and found to contain 12 child abuse images and one video ranging from category A (the most serious kind) to C.

At Falkirk Sheriff Court last month, Sugden pleaded guilty to taking or making indecent images of children between March 2019 and June 2024.

He also admitted attempting to indecently communicate with an older child.

Sugden was handed a three-year Community Payback Order (CPO) with 210 hours of unpaid work when he returned to the dock on Tuesday.

His name was also added to the sex offenders' register.

Sheriff Craig Harris stated: "You have lost your marriage; your relationship with your children has become very strained; you have had to move out of the matrimonial home you had; you lost your job and have been ostracised by friends.

"That has all come about, of course, because of your own criminal actions."

The sheriff noted Sugden had since sought rehabilitation and was engaging with Stop It Now, a child abuse prevention charity.

However, the sheriff added: "Your previous employment is obviously a significant concern, given that you worked yourself with sex offenders and you delivered a high intensity sex offender intervention programme.

"At the same time, you were, of course, offending in the very way that intervention is designed to stop."

Alongside the CPO, Sheriff Harris additionally imposed a string of strict conduct requirements restricting Sugden's internet use.

Helen Nisbet, procurator fiscal for Tayside, Central and Fife, said: "Peter Sugden deliberately conducted a sexualised exchange online with someone he thought to be a 13-year-old girl.

"Following his arrest, his phone was found to contain several images containing child sexual exploitation and abuse.

"Sugden has now been held accountable for his predatory and exploitative conduct, and we hope this prosecution makes clear that we will take action against those who commit this type of offending."

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) confirmed Sugden was no longer employed by the agency.

A spokesperson added: "We recognise the profound and lasting impact such crimes have on survivors."