Vile West Lothian couple found guilty of exposing children to sexual conduct and neglect
Former couple from Livingston placed on the sex offenders register
A vile couple who exposed children in their care to sexual conduct including simulating intercourse have been placed on the sex offenders register.
Robert Hay, 58, and Isobel Irvine, 54, made crude sexual remarks in the presence of one victim while the woman fondled her former husband, while they were looking after another youngster.
Irvine also sexually assaulted a third child with a remote control device and her thumb while tasked with their care on various occasions between 2013 and 2016.
The couple were also found to have neglected three children and caused them unnecessary suffering by exposing them to unsanitary and hazardous living conditions.
They failed to provide the youngsters with adequate food and left them unattended for long periods of time during the shocking catalogue of abuse.
All the offences committed by the couple, who have since divorced, took place at addresses in Armadale and Bathgate in West Lothian between July 1996 and February 2018.
Hay and Irvine, both of Livingston, West Lothian, denied all the historical allegations against them, but were found guilty by a jury following a two week trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, on Friday, August 21.
The jury returned not guilty verdicts to further charges of Hay and Irvine engaging in sexual intercourse in the presence of a child, and to inducing the child to masturbate at the property in Bathgate.
The jury also cleared Hay of sexually assaulting two children, and to an allegation of discussing masturbation and making sexual comments to another young child, all between 2011 and 2023.
Sheriff Iain Nicol told the jury members he was offering them the services of a Scottish Court Service counselling team if they required it due to the harrowing nature of the evidence they had to consider.
The sheriff placed Hay and Irvine on the sex offenders register and deferred sentenced on both for the preparation of a social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to later this year.
They will also have their names forwarded to Scottish Ministers for consideration of being added to the list of those banned from working with children or vulnerable adults in the future.