A POSTMAN who made sexual advances towards an eight-year-old boy was

yesterday jailed for four months.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Robert Beggs was arrested after the

boy told his father what had happened.

Beggs, 23, of Sycamore Terrace, Edinburgh, admitted using lewd,

indecent, and libidinous practices towards the East Lothian boy, now

aged nine, at his home on three occasions between January 1 and December

13, 1992.

The child's parents were said to be ''happy'' with an arrangement at

the time for their son to stay at the house Beggs shared with his

parents. The family had got to know the postman through a shared

interest, the court heard.

Depute-fiscal David Dickson said: ''The boy was frightened by what was

happening to him, but as he did not know what to do he pretended, on

these occasions, that he was sleeping.''

Mr Duncan Hughes, defending, said Beggs, a first offender, had

accepted responsibility almost immediately.

Background reports revealed he would be suitable for community service

as an alternative to imprisonment, said Mr Hughes.