Sex-pest pensioner’s dog walker assaults

Court finds man guilty of sexually assaulting three women he had encountered when walking their dogs

A 76-year-old sex pest who preyed on women out walking their dogs in Fife has been found guilty of offences against three victims.

Ronald Leyman committed one of the crimes in a supermarket against a woman he had previously seen walking her dog.

Leyman shocked the shopper by saying he wanted to have sex with her.

In another incident he sexually assaulted a woman as she walked her dog in a secluded country area.

In his trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Leyman made bizarre claims that two of the women, in their 30s and 40s, had repeatedly made sexual gestures to him for years, any time they saw him.

The pensioner, of Robert Smith Court, Lumphinnans, was found guilty of three charges.

On 2 July 2 2012 at Asda, Halbeath Retail Park, he assaulted a woman by making sexual remarks to her.

Between August 1 and 21 at Robert Smith Court he sexually assaulted a second woman when she patted his dog, by repeatedly thrusting his genital area towards her head and made a sexual comment by asking her to pat him.

On August 21 at Lumphinnans Road, Lochgelly, he sexually assaulted a third woman by touching her waist and buttocks, and making sexual remarks.

The trial heard Leyman would regularly pester women as they walked their dogs in the Lumphinnans area.

The victim in the Asda incident said she was shopping in the store at lunchtime when she saw Leyman, who had spoken to her in the past when she was walking her dog.

She told the court, after he made a suggestive comment: “I said in a loud voice, ‘Get away from me’.

“I was shocked and quite upset. Another woman came up and asked if I was okay.”

Leyman said he had been joking. The woman in the most recent incident was walking her dog on a farm track when Leyman approached her.

“He tried to put his arms around me. I pushed him away and that’s when he put his hand on my bottom.

“I pushed him away again. He said, ‘I can’t help myself’.”

The woman said she picked up her dog, ran home and phoned her husband.

She said she was “very scared, very upset”.

Another woman told the court she had patted Leyman’s dog when he thrust his groin forward saying, “Can I have a pat too?”

Leyman claimed two of the women would look up to his window as he washed his dishes and make gestures suggesting they wanted sex with him.

Sheriff Charles MacNair described Leyman’s evidence as “quite incredible” and found him guilty of all three charges.

He called for reports and Leyman will be sentenced on July 18. He was placed on the sex offenders register.

The trial heard Leyman would regularly pester women as they walked their dogs in the area