A Dunfermline man has been convicted of carrying out a campaign of sexual abuse against a trio of teenagers.
Gary Hempseed was convicted of seven of the nine charges he faced, relating to three females, at the conclusion of a four-day trial.
The majority of 14 jurors at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court agreed Hempseed was guilty and the former lorry driver was remanded in custody.
Sexual assaults
On occasions between August 2013 and August 2016 at a property in Dunfermline, the 57-year-old former lorry driver was found to have engaged in sexual activity with a girl, who had not yet turned 16.
He repeatedly slapped her buttocks above her clothing and made sexual remarks.
Between when she turned 16 until shortly after she turned 19, this behaviour continued.
Jurors acquitted Hempseed of two other charges relating to the girl.
However, he was found to have sexually assaulted a different child between the ages of 13 and 16 and repeatedly induced her to tickle his naked stomach.
This happened on various occasions between November 2015 and November 2017 across different addresses in Dunfermline.
He continued this behaviour until November 2019.
The majority of jurors agreed further that on one occasion, between January 2018 and September 2019, he sexually assaulted the same person.
In a hot tub, he placed another man’s hand it on her private parts and forced his hand to touch her body there.
A third victim, who was sixteen years old at the time, was sexually assaulted by then 55-year-old Hempseed at his home on Skye Road.
On November 17 2019, Hempseed performed a string of sex acts on the teenager.
He had also taken an intimate photograph of her on his mobile phone, which has been forfeited.
The girl previously told the trial how she had pretended to be asleep during her ordeal until she took the chance to flee.
He claimed the encounter was consensual.
Remanded in custody
Hempseed’s case has been moved to Dunfermline Sheriff Court, where he will be sentenced on September 20 after social work reports have been compiled.
Sheriff Charles MacNair remanded him meantime.
The sheriff said: “Having regard to the charges which you have been convicted of, in particular the very serious nature of charge nine (the sexual assault in his home) you will be remanded in custody.”
Hempseed was placed on the Sex Offenders Register with immediate effect.
