A Fife man who carried out indecent and sexual assaults on a woman over a 13-year period has been jailed.
David Maxwell, of Balgonie Avenue in Glenrothes, demanded the woman remove her lower clothing before performing sex acts on her and striking her with his hand and a belt, on repeated occasions between October 2006 and February 2019.
He previously admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards the woman, who can not be named for legal reasons, by sending her a photograph of his naked buttocks and other abusive messages on social media in May 2019.
Maxwell, 48, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court and Sheriff Charles Macnair jailed him for two years and six months.
The sheriff jailed him for a further 110 days for the abusive messages.
The sentences will run consecutively to one another.
Sheriff Macnair told Maxwell: “This is a case where the jury were satisfied that you had committed these offences over a period of some 13 years.
“That’s 13 years of pain and humiliation when she was not consenting, as the jury found.
“That involved you hitting her with your hand and with your belt and then (performing a sex act) over her body.
“In my view a custodial sentence is the only appropriate sentence.”
Maxwell was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and a non-harassment order was imposed to stop him contacting or attempting to contact the woman for a period of ten years.
Continues to deny the charges
Jurors had taken only an hour to find him guilty of two charges last month.
The first charge states Maxwell indecently assaulted the woman at various Fife properties on repeated occasions, between October 2006 and December 2010.
He demanded she remove her lower clothing and bend over before pushing her on the body to stop her from moving, performed sex acts over her body and struck her on the naked buttocks with his hand and a belt.
The second charge states Maxwell sexually assaulted the woman at properties in Fife between December 2010 and February 2019.
The details of the crime are the same but the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 applies in line with the time frame of offending.
Defence lawyer Chris Sneddon told the court Maxwell continues to deny the indecent assault and sexual assault charges.
