Paedophile who fled abroad gets seven years

A PAEDOPHILE who fled Scotland for a life in the Netherlands after abusing three children has been jailed for seven years.

David Wilson was just 12 years old when he began abusing a 10-year-old boy and forcing him to perform sex acts. Wilson, 47, also carried out a campaign of abuse against two other youngsters over a nine-year period from 1979 to 1988.

He moved to the Netherlands but was arrested at Edinburgh Airport after he returned to Scotland for a short visit home.

Yesterday Wilson, originally from Falkirk, was jailed after the judge, Lord Bracadale, told him that he had no other option to but to send him to prison.

Sitting at the High Court in Edinburgh, the judge added: “Your victims have been significantly affected by your conduct. The only disposal available to me is to impose a custodial sentence.”

Wilson, who lived in Montfoort, Netherlands, was charged with several counts of sexual abuse and rape which began in 1979 and spanned nine years.

He pled not guilty, forcing his three victims to relive their ordeals in court last month.

But the jury found Wilson guilty of abusing and attempting to rape a man, now aged 45, at various addresses in the Falkirk area.

He was also found guilty of sexually abusing and raping a child over a six-year period starting when they were seven years old and raping another child over a four-year period starting when they were just four.

The two adults - who cannot be named for legal reasons - are now aged 42, and 35, and the abuse took place at various locations in the Falkirk area.

Sentence had been deferred so the court could obtain reports. Speaking after conviction, Police Scotland Detective Inspector Michael Lynch, of the Public Protection Unit based in Larbert, near Falkirk, said: “David Wilson had been living overseas for a number of years.

“However, thanks to some excellent police work, officers managed to trace him at Edinburgh airport in May 2014 after acting upon vital intelligence.

“Wilson inflicted a tremendous amount of distress on his victims who have shown great courage throughout the course of this trial. My thoughts are with them and I hope the verdict provides some comfort.”