Man raped child, 12, at flat after messaging her on Snapchat

Stuart Moffat accepted that he had sex with the girl at an address in Hawick.

Stuart Moffett raped 12-year-old child at Hawick flat after messaging her on Snapchat Getty Images

A man raped a 12-year-old child at a flat in the Scottish Borders after messaging her on Snapchat.

Stuart Moffett assaulted the underage child at an address in Hawick after contacting her on the social media site.

During the assault he made sexual remarks to the girl and touched and molested her.

The 32-year-old formerly of Selkirk, was accused of raping the girl in an attack on September 28 in 2022.

He denied aspects of the charge brought against him by the Crown but accepted that he had sex with the girl.

Defence counsel Iain Smith told jurors: “He has admitted to you that he is guilty of rape. It is rape to have sex with a 12-year-old.”

He invited the jury to convict Moffett of rape but to delete parts of the charge.

But the jury found Moffett guilty of the entire charge before them.

The trial judge, Lord Clark, told him: “By the verdict of the jury you have been convicted of the serious offence of rape of a child and as you have heard there are no deletions from the indictment.”

The judge adjourned passing sentence on Moffett until August 2 at the High Court in Glasgow and called for a background report to be prepared on him.

Moffett, who had been on bail, was remanded in custody and was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

STV News is now on WhatsApp

Get all the latest news from around the country

Follow STV News
Follow STV News on WhatsApp

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country

WhatsApp channel QR Code