US EditionPrison officer Peter Sugden, who delivered sex offender programmes, caught sending messages to girl, 13
- Peter Sugden, a 46-year-old Falkirk prison officer who ran sex offender programmes, was caught sending indecent messages in June 2024 to a decoy account believed to be a 13-year-old girl.
- Sugden initiated communication on the Kik app, mistakenly thinking he was courting a teenager from Essex, but the profile was operated by adult volunteers as a paedophile sting.
- Over 16 days, Sugden sent almost daily sexual remarks during breaks before work and at lunchtime, then faced confrontation by the paedophile hunters who alerted the police leading to his arrest.
- Sugden admitted guilt to possessing 12 indecent images and one video of child abuse, classified from category A to C, during a court appearance in Falkirk on April 2, 2025.
- Sugden received a three-year Community Payback Order with 210 hours unpaid work, was added to the sex offenders register, lost his job, family, and social ties, and began engaging with a child abuse prevention charity.
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Prison officer who messaged fake profile of girl, 13, while at work spared jail
Peter Sugden, 46, of Falkirk, sent numerous indecent messages and sexual remarks to the fictional teenager over the course of 16 days. A prison officer who preyed on who he thought was a 13-year-old girl during his lunch breaks using a messaging app has been spared jail. Peter Sugden, 46, began communicating with the Kik profile in June 2024, believing it belonged to a young girl from Essex. However he was actually messaging a volunteer from an …
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