A 52-YEAR-OLD sex offender, snared in a police operation in which he had online sex chats with a person he believed to be a 12-year-old girl, has been sentenced to supervision. Peter Houlihan’s sick messages were being sent straight to a police officer, as part of a decoy operation run from England. Houlihan, of Back o’ Yards, Inverkeithing, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. He admitted previously that between December 8-11, he sent sexual communications via the WhatsApp and Fast Flirting platforms to a police officer then posing as a 12-year-old girl. Sheriff Alastair Brown imposed a community payback order with six months of supervision. Houlihan was also placed on the sex offenders register.