Suspected online predator from Scotland faces charges

From a town in Scotland's remote Shetland Islands, a 26-year-old man made a teenage girl in Washington County his "slave," stalking and sexually manipulating her via the Internet from across the Atlantic over a span of two to three years, according to a complaint that has led to a warrant for his arrest.

In the first action of its kind in Washington County, a man identifying himself as Keith A. Bain of Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland, is charged with electronic solicitation of a child.

Not only is the charge a first, but the accusation against a foreign national makes prosecution problematic.

"We're not going to extradite him, because under our sentencing guidelines, he would only be placed on probation," said Doug Johnson, Washington County attorney. "We're not going to put the county to that expense."

With the warrant being issued for Bain's arrest, however, the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection has been put on alert.

"What we have accomplished is that, if he ever tries to step foot in this country, he'll be arrested," Johnson said. That will help ensure that he can never physically reach his victim.

Bain struck up a relationship with the girl, who was then 14, through an Internet chat room aimed at the Goth subculture in 2007, the complaint says.

The police investigator first spoke to the girl's parents, the complaint says, who were under the impression that Bain was 16 to 18 years old.

When the investigator talked to the girl early this year, she admitted he was 25. She also said that he was aware of her age, and that they had exchanged nude photos of each other via e-mail, the complaint said. Bain had also mailed her sexual bondage items and pornographic DVDs, along with candy, clothes and jewelry.

The girl said "that the relationship with Bain became a master/slave relationship in which Bain was the master and would tell her what to do," the complaint says. At some point, the girl said, Bain had become too controlling, including demanding that she disrobe in front of him via a webcam.

Using an Internet account the girl had been using to communicate with Bain, the complaint says, the investigator confronted Bain and demanded that he get in touch and provide his name, address and phone number. After some resistance, Bain responded and identified himself, and the complaint was filed.