Edinburgh pensioner who sexually abused string of young schoolgirls is jailed

An Edinburgh pensioner who sexually abused a string of schoolgirls over a 15-year period has been jailed.

Frank Boyd, 73, repeatedly molested the youngsters by touching their breasts and genitals when the girls visited his home in Edinburgh.

Boyd also climbed into bed with the girls and rubbed his body against them after being left alone with them on occasions between 2004 and last year.

The elderly predator even groped one girl while his wife slept in the next room and was eventually caught when a victim told a teacher what had been happening to her during the visits to his home.

During the police investigation two more victims then came forward to reveal they had also been sexually assaulted by the OAP while in his home.

Boyd - who served in the British Army for 25 years - pleaded guilty to six sexual offences against the three girls when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday where Sheriff Kenneth McGowan jailed Boyd for 27 months and placed on the sex offenders register for ten years.

Prosecutor Aidan Higgins read a written narration to the court stating Boyd targeted the first victim in 2004 when she was just 11-years-old.

Frank Boyd, 73, repeatedly molested the youngsters by touching their breasts and genitals when the girls visited his home in Edinburgh.

The girl’s police statement described how Boyd sexually assaulted her on various occasions over a three-year period while his wife was “either in the kitchen or having a nap”.

She said he would encourage her to lie on top of him and abused her by putting his hands under her clothing and touching her genitals.

The girl added she “didn’t ever tell anyone” about the attacks as she was “stressed about upsetting anyone”.

The second victim also visited the pervert’s home and said the abuse began around 2008 when she was 11-years-old.

She described to police one occasion when Boyd, of Broomhouse, Edinburgh, climbed into bed with her and she was forced to push him off her after he had touched her genitals.

The girl also said Boyd “had a fixation on my boobs as from 11 to 12 I began to develop” and that he would regularly “brush my boobs with his elbow” in the passing.

She added: “I began asking people to chum me to the kitchen so I wouldn't have to be alone with him.

“I never told anyone about this at the time because of how well respected he was. He previously had a career in the army and he was a very social man.

“I was sure I wouldn't have been believed as it was my word against [his]. This behaviour went on for years.”

The third victim was just seven when Boyd began sexually abusing her in a campaign that lasted three years.

The court heard Boyd “routinely sought out opportunities to be alone” with the youngster in his kitchen or his bedroom.

The fiscal said Boyd would pull her towards him, place his hands over and under her clothing, and grope her private parts.

The fiscal added: “On some occasions the accused would get into bed with the complainer and rub his body against her back.

“The accused’s conduct continued until the middle of January 2020 when the complainer felt the need to tell someone what was happening and spoke to a teacher at school.

“It was following this disclosure by the complainer that it came to light that the accused had similarly offended against the other complainers in earlier years.”

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