Iain Alexander Macrae jailed for asking undercover police posing as children for ‘sexy pics’

He asked for “sexy pics” and sent gross photos - now a court’s heard this father of four is embarrassed by what he did.

A man who asked undercover cops for “sexy pics”, private pick-ups and sent his own explicit photos has been jailed for three years – because he thought he was talking to 14-year-olds.

Salisbury North factory worker Iain Alexander Macrae, a father of four, used the social media application Kik in early 2024 to contact two “teen girls”.

During the chats that spanned more than three months, Macrae requested “sexy pics” from both users, and offered to pick them up to go to the Hills or beach together.

Iain Alexander Macrae was arrested by elite detectives from SA’s Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team. Picture: Matt Loxton

Macrae, 40, sent explicit photos to both undercover operatives – whom he genuinely believed were 14-year-old girls.

During sentencing on April 7, Judge Jane Schammer said Macrae could be sentenced for only one day of communication per conversation – but chats with other adults were “concerning”.

“Your early guilty pleas demonstrate your desire to take responsibility for what you have done,” Judge Schammer said.

“However, the nature of your communications with others regarding the child exploitation material and the intentions you verbalised during those conversations is of concern.”

The court heard during those conversations, he “actively contemplated” contact offending in the context of his sexual attraction to children and possessed 29 images and three videos of children as young as four.

Non-exploitative images of children known to Mr Macrae were also sent to other users for their “sexual gratification” according to chat logs.

District Court Judge Jane Schammer jailed Macrae for his “concerning” interest in abuse. Picture: Greg Higgs

Macrae pleaded guilty to two counts of communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity and one count each of possessing and disseminating child exploitation material.

Macrae was arrested by the state’s elite Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team on May 29, 2024.

The court heard Macrae was “very embarrassed and remorseful” for the offending, which occurred because he was “socially isolated and craving a connection with others”.

Her Honour accepted he was remorseful, but said his offending was brought about by his sexual interest in children.

“You need to understand that this is not a victimless crime,” Judge Schammer said.

“The downloading and viewing of this material promote its distribution and motivates the ongoing exploitation and abuse of children.

“It is because people like you have an interest in viewing this material that these children are subjected to this abuse.”

Judge Schammer sentenced Macrae to three years in jail, with a non-parole period of two years, four months and 25 days.

The sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest on May 29, 2024.