Predatory paedophile raped schoolgirl trafficking victim in Edinburgh flat

A predatory paedophile who carried out a horrific rape attack on a young girl who was trafficked for organised abuse has been jailed for 11 years.

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Gary Thomson was the tenant of an Edinburgh flat where the child victim was taken to be subjected to sexual abuse by other men in return for money.

But on two occasions Thomson molested the child during visits and on the second occasion raped the crying and screaming girl at the property in the city's Blackfriars Street.

Thomson was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh

Thomson, 52, then went on to subject a young boy to a catalogue of abuse and rape in the city.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: "You pled guilty to the serious, sexual abuse of two children. You have admitted offending against the first complainer on two occasions, the second of these involved a horrific attack on a child who was only eight years old at the time."

Lady Carmichael said: "Your abuse has had lasting and devastating consequences for the two children involved. There is no alternative to a lengthy custodial sentence."

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Thomson, a roofer, of Pimlico, in London, earlier admitted three charges of assault and rape committed between 2010 and 2018.

The court heard that the female victim told police and social work staff during an interview that she was taken to a flat where she was sexually abused by adult males for money. The man who took her there was later jailed for 12 years.

She said that on two occasions she recalled Thomson being at the property. The first time he rubbed her leg and asked her age and whether she wanted biscuits.

On the second occasion she was put in a bedroom where another man abused her leaving her disgusted, upset and embarrassed.

The man left the room and through the open door she saw him handover an envelope of money to the man who brought her to the flat.

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Advocate depute John Keenan said after the first abuser left Thomson went into the bedroom and began molesting the girl. He then pinned her down on a bed and raped her.

The prosecutor said: "She was crying and screaming at him to get off." The victim was left bloody and sore after the ordeal.

Mr Keenan said that Thomson had then gone to molest a boy who was subjected to abuse from when he was eight years old.

The advocate depute said Thomson told the boy it was "their little secret and he wasn't to tell anyone" but his mother found out that he was preying on her son.

Defence counsel Mark Stewart QC said: "It is of little comfort to those he has affected but it is something he is deeply ashamed of. He has accepted the gravity of his offending behaviour."

Mr Stewart said that Thomson was not involved in the handing over of money in relation to the girl who was sexually abused.

Thomson was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely and will be monitored for the rest of his life.

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