Hearts' Craig Thomson guilty of preying on underage girls

HEARTS star Craig Thomson has been put on the sex offenders register after he was caught preying on underage girls on the internet.

The player engaged in sexual conversations with the girls, aged 12 and 14, chatting with them over Facebook, email and webcams.

He will remain on the register for five years, and has been fined 4000.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard Thomson, 20, had swapped email addresses with the girls after sending them friend requests on Facebook.

The first girl was 13 when he first approached her online.

Although she had her age and date of birth on her Facebook profile, Thomson engaged her in sexual chat, and asked her about her body parts.

After she had turned 14 he told her he wanted to have sex with her and sent her a photograph of naked male private parts.

He was in contact with her between May and August 2010.

The second girl had known the footballer since she was small, and was 12 years old when he approached her online. She accepted his friend request in January last year.

Claire Bottomley, prosecuting, told Edinburgh Sheriff Court: "Initially, their conversations were of a general nature." But she said he had then repeatedly discussed showing his private parts to the girl.

She said: "He discussed sexual acts, made inappropriate comments about her body and asked her to expose herself online."

The prosecutor said that on June 18 last year, during a chat on a webcam, he had asked the girl to expose her breasts and mentioned a sexual act.

The girl reported the conversation to her mother, and the police were then called.

Thomson, of Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, pleaded guilty to lewd libidinous and indecent behaviour.

A not guilty plea to a similar charge involving a third girl was accepted.

He agreed to pay the fine at 300 a month.

Thomson, who was arrested in September last year, said in January he was trying to concentrate on his career ahead of the court case.

"Football is my life and I will focus on that before anything. This has been a learning curve," he said.

"The management and all the staff at Tynecastle have been different class with me. That has helped enormously."

The right back, who also plays for Scotland under-21s, was forced to tell Hearts boss Jim Jefferies about the online sex chats after his arrest. Sources said at the time that Jefferies had "hit the roof" but was backing the player.