A 21-year-old from Dundee is facing a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of raping two underage schoolgirls at parties.
A jury found Jordan Pearson guilty of having sex with the two 13-year-olds at parties while they were intoxicated and incapable of giving or withholding consent.
Pearson was also convicted of having consensual sex with a girl who was aged 13 at the time and of sexually assaulting another young female.
The High Court at Livingston was told how the accused would turn up late at house parties and ask drunken schoolgirls to talk to him in private.
He then took them into a bedroom and raped them at addresses in Dundee during a course of criminal conduct between November 2018 and August 2019.
Giving evidence in his own defence, Pearson claimed he was the victim of “a big set-up” and denied that he had “an unhealthy interest in young girls”.
However, the jury heard he denied being at a party where one of the alleged rapes was committed until police showed him a video proving he was present.
One of his victims was so drunk she was sick in two rooms and had to be placed on a mattress by her friends, where predatory Pearson later had sex with her.
Three of the teenage girls alleged Pearson he had sent them photos of his penis and one of them claimed he had pressurised her into send him an intimate picture but the jury found those allegations not proven.
Bail refused
Following the jury’s majority verdicts the court was told Pearson, of Gourdie Road, Dundee, had no previous convictions and has a full time job.
His defence counsel John Brannigan asked the court to continue the accused’s bail until sentence while background reports were prepared.
However, Judge Alison Stirling told Pearson: “Having regard to the verdicts of the jury and the offences of which you’ve been convicted you are no longer an appropriate candidate for bail and you’ll be remanded in custody for preparation of a criminal justice social work report, to include a risk assessment, until 6 July 2022.
“You will also be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
“I can’t tell you the period you will remain on the register at this stage.
“That will be decided when sentence is passed.”
She also ordered the clerk of court to notify Scottish Ministers of Pearson’s conviction under under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act, banning him from working with children and other vulnerable groups.
Pearson showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out or when he was escorted from the dock to the cells
