A FORMER youth football coach who was caught in a paedophile vigilante sting has been handed an extended jail sentence.

Craig Raeburn contacted an online account he believed to be owned by a 12-year-old boy and sent him pictures of his genitals and made lewd comments.

But the bogus WhatsApp account had been set up by internet group Wolf Pack Hunters UK, who passed all Raeburn’s disturbing messages onto police.

Raeburn contacted ‘12-year-old Cameron Scott’ just weeks after he had been released from prison after he was caught with hundreds of child abuse images last year.

Raeburn, from Port Seton, was originally jailed for 14 months and placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years when he admitted possessing the images at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in April last year.

Now the ex-youth coach is back behind bars after admitting to sending pictures and messages of an explicit nature to the Wolf Hunter decoy between March 17 and 28 this year.

Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC branded the offences “serious and concerning” and added that in his opinion “custody is entirely appropriate”.

Sheriff O’Grady jailed Raeburn for 20 months and told him he would be supervised for a further 12 months on his release.

The sheriff also placed 54-year-old Raeburn on the sex offenders' register for 10 years at the Capital’s sheriff court today (Friday).

Previously the court heard that Raeburn, who was sacked from his position as an NHS manager following last year’s conviction, contacted a Skype account set up by a Wolf Pack Hunters UK member posing as a child.

The chats switched to WhatsApp, where Raeburn sent the 'boy' pictures of his genitals and made comments about engaging in “oral sex” and “full sex” with the 'boy'.

READ MORE: Ex-youth football coach sent 'boy' sexually explicit messages

A plea of not guilty to making arrangements to meet the 'boy' at the Capital’s Waverley Station with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with or in the presence of the child was accepted by the Crown.

A not guilty plea to Raeburn breaching his Sex Offenders Supervision Order (SOPO) by being in possession of an iPad between March 17 and 28 was also accepted.

In court today, Clare Connelly, defending advocate, said her client was “sorry and ashamed” by his actions and “in his words he had been sucked in again”.

Ms Connelly added that Raeburn was keen to involve himself in a sex offenders' rehabilitation course and he was currently “engaging in counselling services while in prison”.

Raeburn was previously jailed for 14 months in April last year after he was caught with more than 1,400 indecent images of children and 20 videos - some at the most extreme end of the spectrum - despite him trying to delete most of the files.

Police officers used specialist computer software to recover most of the evidence and associated file names.

READ MORE: Craig Raeburn jailed over child rape movies

He was placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and handed a five-year SOPO following his release from prison.

Raeburn was subsequently sacked from his position as a practitioner services manager with the NHS following last year’s conviction.

He no longer has any involvement with local youth football club Cockenzie Star.