Tri-Service
Reports: British Soldier Jailed For Underage Sex With Teenager
A British Army soldier who met a male teenager for sex knowing he was underage has reportedly been jailed for 20 months.
The legal agent of Alexander Gemmell, 29, said it was "inevitable" he would be discharged from the Army after the sentence, according to Scottish newspaper the Courier.
Sheriff Foulis said during sentencing:
"Legislation is there to protect teenagers who may be vulnerable. They are developing physically, emotionally and sexually and have not yet fully matured — they have to be protected. The issue of consent is neither here nor there — it’s irrelevant.
"You knew this teenager was underage but two days later you met him for a liaison."
The court had heard how Gemmell, who is based at Leuchars Station in Fife, began communicating "digitally" with the teenager on the Fab Guys gay and bisexual website, where he described himself as a homosexual.
He later admitted sending a sexual communication to the boy under the age of 16 and corresponding with him to obtain sexual gratification and with a view to meeting him to engage in sex.
He also admitted that he engaged in sexual activity with the boy on derelict land in Perth.
Solicitor Hazel McGuinness, defending, said the "urgency" to meet the teenager "overcame" her client after his "internal inhibitors" took over. She said:
"My client registered on an adult dating site and didn’t seek someone underage. However, he knows he should have stopped correspondence when the teenager told him his age. My client is ashamed and is aware of the consequences of his actions."
"It’s inevitable he will be no longer be employed in the Army after this."
Detectives spoke to the accused soldier at Leuchars, where he admitted the offences, after being contacted by the teenager’s mother.
Gemmell was put on the sex offenders' register for 10 years, in addition to his sentence.
Cover photo courtesy of David Hawgood.
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