A PAEDOPHILE who was jailed for nearly three years just four months ago after fantasising about raping his own baby is now set to be released in a FORTNIGHT.

Pervert Robert Aitman — who was told by a sheriff that it was hard to imagine a more serious sexual abuse intention — will be freed after winning an appeal against his original 35-month prison term.

The 30-year-old, inset, had the jail term slashed following representations by his legal team, and it was also backdated to November 7 last year when he was first remanded in custody.

It means that Aitman — who also downloaded and distributed child pornography — is likely to be back on the streets early next month because offenders ordinarily serve only half of the time they are given.

The ruling was confirmed by the Justiciary Office of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals service when we contacted them.

At his original sentencing hearing in March, Aitman was told by Sheriff Derek Hamilton that he posed a significant ongoing risk to the general public.

The sex offender stared blankly ahead in the dock of Greenock Sheriff Court as a series of disturbing facets of his personality, including hostility towards women, were highlighted.

The Telegraph told previously how Aitman sent a vile online text message to a woman telling her that he wanted her to give birth to his baby so that he could then rape the infant.

He stored the sordid conversation on a mobile phone that he also used to circulate disgusting child pornography images among other twisted perverts.

Aitman — who was placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely by Sheriff Hamilton — accumulated the illegal pictures and videos over a period of nearly a decade.

Sheriff Hamilton told him: “You pleaded guilty to a number of very serious charges involving child pornography.

“You downloaded images over a very significant period of time — nine years.

“There is also a very serious charge of distributing images.

“As for the offence under the Communications Act, one can hardly imagine more serious content than to suggest you have a baby with a complete stranger and then rape the child.”

The sheriff described this offence as being ‘particularly awful’.

The court was told previously how a forensic inspection of two mobile phones and a tablet computer owned by Aitman yielded a total of 37 images and one video which showed abused children ranging in age ‘from baby to 14 years’.

He committed his offences between November 3 2007 and November 4 2016.

Aitman’s lawyer said at the time that he had been the victim of repeated sexual abuse as a child, adding: “He is an individual who would otherwise be regarded as vulnerable.”

In relation to Aitman’s baby rape text, which was sent via the Kik messenger app, the solicitor said: “It is a discussion, not a perpetrated assault.”

Aitman has been assessed by experts as being a high risk of reoffending, citing a ‘lack of concern towards others’ and ‘deviant sexual interests’.

An extended two-year sentence in the community following his release from prison, which was also imposed by Sheriff Hamilton, was upheld by the appeal court.

It means that if Aitman reoffends in any way during that time he is almost certain to be returned to prison to serve out that time.