Guilty, ‘manipulative’ professor who sexually abused young students
‘I was quite scared’
AN academic described as a ‘master manipulator’ has been convicted of sexually assaulting a string of male students.
Professor Kevin O’Gorman, 45, abused eight young men while working at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt universities between 2006 and 2014.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard he abused his position of privilege to prey on vulnerable students who hoped to gain entry to advanced degrees.
O’Gorman targeted those who needed help, convincing them that they could not succeed without his assistance.
At an earlier hearing, procurator fiscal Nicole Lavelle told the court: ‘In the way that he presented himself to every one of them, O’Gorman was the master manipulator.’
Sheriff Alistair Noble heard evidence from one victim who said O’Gorman visited him at his flat and ordered him to remove his trousers. He was then whipped at least ten times. Another told how, during the course of a Skype call with O’Gorman, he was made to stand in a corner and beat himself on the bottom with a wooden spoon.
O’Gorman, of Milngavie, Dunbartonshire, had denied 19 charges against 11 young men but was convicted of 16 charges against eight of them.
The verdicts conclude a set of proceedings which began earlier this year. None of the men abused by O’Gorman can be identified for legal reasons.
The academic was director of Heriot-Watt’s School of Management and Languages.
One victim, now 32, told the court when he met O’Gorman in 2006 he was suffering mental health problems and had twice quit university.
During an online conversation with Professor O’Gorman in 2009, the academic asked him about his return to university.
O’Gorman told him he had ‘screwed up’ and would ‘definitely need to be punished’.
The man thought it was a joke. But O’Gorman asked him where he lived and said he would need to be ‘belted’.
The man said: ‘I was quite scared. I thought maybe it wasn’t a real thing.’
When the academic arrived O’Gorman told him to take down his trousers and underwear before hitting him with a belt ten times.
O’Gorman then hugged the man ‘fiercely’ and said: ‘I bet it feels good now.’
Sentence was deferred until next month for reports.