8 years for ‘monster’ athletics coach who abused 5 teen girls
A SHAMED former athletics coach has been jailed for eight years for a ‘monstrous’ campaign of abuse against teenage girls.
Eric Simpson, now 73, preyed on five victims, indecently assaulting four and raping one.
The crimes occurred between 1981 and 1999 in Kirkcaldy and Burntisland in Fife as well as at a school in Edinburgh.
Simpson continued as a respected coach, but was brought to justice when one victim – now in her 50s – told the police in 2018, sparking a large-scale abuse probe.
She had seen a photograph which featured him still involved in athletics and posing with a young girl.
Simpson was yesterday sentenced at the High Court in Paisley. He had earlier been convicted after a trial in Edinburgh of raping one girl and subjecting the four others to indecent assaults and lewd acts.
Lord Arthurson told Simpson: ‘In light of the jury’s verdict, you come across as a Jekyll and Hyde character.
‘Your crimes against your victims in this case were nothing short of monstrous.
‘You have displayed limited regret and lack victim empathy.
‘There was sustained sexual abuse as a coach towards young females. The only disposal is a substantial period in custody.’ Jurors heard how the victim who had alerted the police had wanted to protect other young girls from potential abuse.
The court was told how Simpson previously boasted it was difficult working with girls when they all fancied him.
One victim was molested by Simpson during massages before he raped her. She told the trial: ‘He used to put music on and say it made him think of me. It was Young Girl.’
Another victim said she was only 13 when Simpson made inappropriate remarks. She added: ‘I was frozen. I was too scared to do anything.’
After police were alerted, detectives contacted various people who had been coached by Simpson in a career which spanned from the 1970s until his suspension in 2018.
Simpson had denied any guilt, but he was convicted of seven charges last month.
He was also put on the sex offenders’ list indefinitely.