A FORMER Tesco Haddington worker has been the target of an undercover police sting after he was caught sending indecent images of himself to people he believed were young schoolgirls.

Stephen Bennett, 63, contacted two online accounts which had been set up in the name of the children by police officers who were operating in a bid to catch online paedophiles.

Bennett began the contact by sending sexual messages to the ‘children’ before his behaviour soon escalated and he sent images of his erect penis to the accounts.

East Lothian Courier: Stephen Bennett

But instead of him contacting children as Bennett believed, he was in fact in communication with two undercover police officers.

Following the contact, police officers raided Bennett’s former home at Aberlady Road in Haddington in September last year.

It is believed that Bennett was working at the Tesco supermarket within the town at the time of his offending.

He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year to admit two charges of attempting to indecently communicate with two children aged 12 years old between December 2020 and September last year.

Bennett was back in the dock for sentencing last Wednesday and avoided a custodial sentence; he was instead handed a community payback order as a direct alternative.

Sheriff John Cook placed Bennett on the sex offenders' register for three years, as well as imposing a supervision requirement for the same length of time.

Bennett was also ordered to carry out 220 hours of unpaid work in the community and issued with a conduct requirement, meaning he will have his mobile phone use and internet history monitored on a regular basis.

The court was told that Bennett had split up from his partner following his arrest and had since moved to an address in Leeswood in Wales.

Sheriff Cook said that the court order would be transferred to the authorities in Wales.

Bennett pleaded guilty to two offences of attempting to communicate with 12-year-old girls, who were in fact undercover police officers, by sending them written sexual communication and repeatedly sending images of his erect penis between December 19, 2020, and September 6 last year.