A Lanarkshire paedophile has been jailed for a year after sending "chilling" sex messages to a vigilante pretending to be a 12-year-old girl.
When caught, Myles Nailen, of Coatbridge, tried to play down his disgusting behaviour.
He told police: "Everyone has sexualised chat.
"It's only a way of passing the time. That could have been with anyone."
Nailen, from Dunbeth Court, admitted sending messages of a sexual nature to a 'girl' and trying to get her to send him indecent photos of herself.
Jennifer Cunningham, prosecuting, told Hamilton Sheriff Court a child protection group volunteer set up a fake Facebook account and was contacted by Nailen.
Online chats between them took place during October and November 2018 despite the girl warning him she was only 12.
The 58-year-old used graphic sexual language and asked her personal questions.
He said his feelings for her were "out of control".
At one point he joked, "I'll feel better when you are at least a teenager, LOL. You're turning me into an old perv, lusting after your body".
On seeing a photo that the girl had sent, he added, "you're stunning. They can lock me up if they want. No man alive could resist you".
Eventually the decoy went to the police with screenshots of their chats and Nailen was arrested.
Defence agent Vincent McGovern described Nailen's life as "bleak", saying: "He has no support from family or friends.
"But he no longer uses social media which was a significant tool in his life and precipitated this offence."
Passing sentence, Sheriff Colin Dunipace told Nailen: "These messages were chilling in nature and of grave concern.
"The court has a duty to protect young people from individuals like you who seek to engage in such a way.
"It's a matter of some concern that you have failed consistently to accept responsibility for your actions."
Nailen was also placed on the sex offenders' register for an unspecified period.
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