Jailed, janitor who raped and abused vulnerable people
A FORMER community centre caretaker who raped and abused vulnerable adults and children has been jailed for more than 15 years.
David Robertson told a social worker who prepared a background report on him: ‘I am a bit more of a monster than I thought I was.’
He preyed on a total of 16 victims during a catalogue of sexual depravity spanning decades.
The 56-year-old, formerly of Shapinsay Square, Aberdeen, was earlier convicted of raping two women and a girl aged under seven years old.
His sex offending began in his home city in 1974 when he was aged 17 and continued until 2011. He was found guilty of 25 charges and his victims included two men.
A judge told the sex offender at the High Court in Edinburgh that he would spend 15 years and four months behind bars.
Lord Boyd of Duncansby also ordered that on his release, Robertson be kept under supervision for a further ten years when he can be returned to jail if he reoffends or breaches licence conditions. The judge said: ‘It is clear while at liberty you pose a substantial risk to the public.’
Lord Boyd added: ‘ Seven of the victims were girls under the age of 16, two were adult women with learning difficulties and one of your male victims also had learning difficulties.
‘No one who sat through the trial could fail to be moved by the accounts of abuse at your hands.
‘One of the victims said the day the family moved away from Aberdeen was the happiest day of her life as she knew she would then be free from you.’
Lord Boyd added: ‘Those victims who reported their abuse at your hands and gave evidence have showed courage and determination in bringing you to justice. They are to be congratulated for coming forward.’
Robertson preyed on victims at different addresses in Aberdeen and at a holiday park in Arbroath, Angus, a caravan site at Nairn and in Keith, Moray
One victim wept as she recalled how she had been raped as a child by Robertson. She told his trial that he gave her ice cream to buy her silence.
Robertson, who formerly worked at the Lord Provost Henry E Rae Community Centre in Aberdeen, accepted he had committed some of the offences but denied rape. He claimed in court that he felt ‘disgusted’ with himself and added: ‘I was glad I was caught.’
Following Robertson’s conviction last year, police described him as ‘a highly manipulative and controlling’ man who blighted the lives of victims.
Robertson was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.