Hawick man who sexually assaulted girls avoids custodial sentence

Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told this week how Josh Nordon, who was 20 at the time, set up a false Facebook profile claiming to be someone called Danny McKenzie.

As a result the 13-year-old believed she was in a relationship with McKenzie and they exchanged messages, although they had never met.

Nordon pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and sending messages pretending to be another person – and those messages induced the 13-year-old to engage in a relationship in April and May 2029.

The court heard that during this period Nordon sexually assaulted the 13-year-old and also the 14-year-old friend at houses in Galashiels.

A previous hearing was told that the 14-year-old became suspicious that McKenzie was not a real persona and told her mother and the 13-year-old.

They then discovered Nordon, who is now 23, had two profiles on his Facebook … one of himself and the other of Danny McKenzie.

In addition to the unpaid work, Nordon was placed on supervision for three years as part of a Community Pay Back Order.

He was also made subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act.