06/02/2020
The Scottish Parliament has head to deal with the shocking news of the Scottish Finance Secretary's actions in grooming a 16 year old boy.
Derek Mackay (42) resigned from his role as Finance Secretary in a telephone call to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Wednesday evening and he was also suspended from the SNP.
Jackson Carlaw, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has said that Mackay should stand down from the Scottish Parliament and that his behaviour could "constitute the grooming of a young individual." Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard, referred to Mr Mackay's actions as "an abuse of power" and said it was "nothing short of predatory."
Reading some of the messages sent by Mackay to the schoolboy, it is very clear that he was grooming the teenager.
There is no innocent explanation as to why Mackay, as a 42 year old man in a position of responsibility such as he was, would want to develop a friendship with a 16 year old boy.
It is evident that Mackay had been paying very close attention to the young boy's social media. This is incredibly inappropriate; creepy and extremely disturbing.
It is highly unlikely that Mackay did not already know he was a schoolchild before he asked his age and noted the answer, as just 16.
Mackay was not put off by having sent multiple messages without response, showing his ability to manipulate by switching the focus of his messages to topics that would provoke a response.
I would suggest that this is evidence not just of predatory grooming, but stalking.
There is no way that it could be considered appropriate for a 42 year old man to invite a 16 year old boy to dinner!
The 16 year old, thankfully, got nervous about the proposed meeting and created a lie to allow him an excuse not to attend the leaflet drop and be exposed to the threat of meeting the man who was grooming him.
Mackay sent nine messages on the trot; feigning concern about the young boys brother, then (again) offering work, apologising for continually bothering the boy and suggesting he would stop, then resorting to waving and 'Hey' messages. When all this failed, he invited the boy to a reception at the Scottish Parliament - dangling the possibility of meeting the boys rugby heroes to entice a response.
There were many, many more messages. Mackay referred to the boy as being cute, more than once, and this appeared to have been the point that the child was spooked enough to stop responding to Mackay's messages.
It is essential that the authorities ascertain whether the 16 year old boy is actually okay and ensure he is offered support following the inappropriate advances he has suffered.
It is also reasonable to suggest that Mackay's historic communications are investigated to ascertain whether he had approached other children previously and whether there are other victims of his predatory behaviour.
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