Retired teacher’s ten-year abuse of Thai girl
A FORMER headmaster who subjected a young girl to a decade-long campaign of sexual abuse and rape is facing jail.
Arthur Hutchinson began molesting the victim in Thailand when she was aged just eight. He continued to control and exploit her when she moved to Scotland to study.
A court heard yesterday how he had filmed and photographed the girl at a rented flat and put a cloth soaked in lighter fuel on her face, leaving her apparently unconscious.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told Hutchinson, 74, was ‘very controlling’ of the victim and although he arranged for her to go to a private school in Thailand, he restricted her friends and her activities outside of school.
Advocate depute Richard Goddard, QC, told the court: ‘As the complainer’s family were poor and lived in relative poverty she felt a responsibility to obtain an education to provide for herself and her family in the future.’
Hutchinson, who was a teacher for more than 40 years, moved to Thailand in 2010 two years after retiring and began preying on the child there. He suggested that the girl should continue her education in the UK and she secured a higher education place last year.
Hutchinson rented a flat in a city in Scotland and continued to have sex with the girl.
Mr Goddard said: ‘She did not resist the accused’s advances because she was afraid that he would withdraw financial support from her family and stop her education.’ However, following an argument she saw a counsellor in the city and revealed that she had been sexually abused.
Police were contacted and Hutchinson was arrested. Cybercrime experts recovered more than 1,700 indecent photographs of the victim on equipment seized from the flat he was renting along with 198 videos, 129 of which showed him having sex with her.
Mr Goddard said: ‘On a number of occasions the accused could be seen to place a cloth over the complainer’s mouth, which appeared to have the effect of rendering or keeping her unconscious.’
The advocated depute said that during a police interview Hutchinson admitted all the sexual conduct but suggested the girl was a willing participant. Mr Goddard said that was not accepted by the victim and was contradicted by the video recordings. He added: ‘He admitted that when she was disobedient in Thailand he would send her back to the village for three or four days.’
He also typed out a list of expected behaviour from the girl before her move to Scotland which included a ‘no pubs or clubs’ rule.
Hutchinson pleaded guilty to charges relating to sexual assault and rape in both Thailand and Scotland. The earliest assault dated back to December 2010. He further pleaded guilty to taking indecent photographs of the victim between September 2014 and January this year.
Defence counsel Graham Robertson told the court: ‘It is plainly a most serious matter.’
The judge, Lord Fairley, deferred sentence on Hutchinson for the preparation of a background report, including a risk assessment.
He remanded Hutchinson in custody and placed him on the sex offenders’ register.
‘Rendering or keeping her unconscious’