Students abused by professor now suing university over its ‘failings’
‘Nothing short of a monster’
STUDENTS who were sexually assaulted by a predatory professor are to sue their former university. Victims of disgraced former academic Kevin O’Gorman are taking action against Strathclyde University for failings in its handling of the case.
Their legal firm, Digby Brown, is urging the institution to make the findings of its internal probe public.
O’Gorman, 45, was found guilty of abusing eight male students while teaching at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt universities. Victim Fraser Blevins, 32, who waived his right to anonymity, said: ‘That man is nothing short of a monster who preyed on innocent people but at the same time I see him as nothing but weak and pathetic.
‘I was only 17 when he groomed and abused me and others for his own sick gratification.
‘For me, it’s too late for Strathclyde University to say sorry. Strathclyde had the chance to deal with things at the time but they swept it under the carpet.
‘Strathclyde is just as guilty as O’Gorman for turning a blind eye but if they want to do right by victims... (they) will make the full internal review public, not just a few findings.’
O’Gorman abused eight young men while working at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt between 2006 and 2014. Last month Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard he preyed on vulnerable students hoping to get places on advanced degrees.
During a visit to one victim’s flat he ordered him to remove his trousers and whipped him over a bed, and made another victim beat himself on the bottom with a wooden spoon during a Skype call.
O’Gorman, of Milngavie, Dunbartonshire, will be sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court this week.
Kim Leslie, a lawyer at Digby Brown, said: ‘Now the criminal proceedings are concluded, we are investigating the role of the university in this disgusting campaign of abuse, which affected potentially dozens of young adults.’
A Strathclyde University spokesman said the institution would ‘accept the findings of the inquiry and adopt the recommendations’.