An 82-year-old war veteran has been jailed after molesting two young girls in Angus.
Michael Haugh was convicted of two charges of molesting young girls after a trial in June.
On one of the occasions, the first offender carried out the abuse at Arbroath Swimming Pool.
He was also found to have taken and possessed hundreds of images of child abuse.
After the jury returned its verdict, Haugh was remanded for reports.
He returned to the dock and was jailed for 14 months.
Mitigation
Haugh was brought from prison to Dundee Sheriff Court to be sentenced.
Solicitor advocate Charles Ferguson asked the sentencing sheriff to show leniency to his client.
He said Haugh maintains a position of denial.
Mr Ferguson said: “He’s struggling.
“That doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the offences.
“He’s lost half a lung. That’s a result of injuries sustained serving in the Falklands.
“These offences happened when he was about 77.
“He served his country in the Falklands and continued training others until 1999.
“He’s clearly struggling in custody. He’s in the mainstream wing of the prison.
“He’s isolated. He’s sharing a cell with a 23-year-old.”
Mr Ferguson said the background report assessed his client as low risk of re-offending.
He said after Haugh is released, he plans to go home and stay in his house, which has been abandoned since he was remanded.
Sheriff Paul Brown jailed Haugh and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for a decade.
He said: “The jury convicted you of serious sexual offences against children.
“The gravity of these offences means there’s no appropriate alternative to a custodial sentence.
“I consider all of the offences to be part of a course of conduct.”
Conspiracy claims
The octogenarian had denied performing a sex act on an 10-year-old girl following a period of grooming, which included buying her presents and taking her swimming, on various dates between 2014 and 2017.
Haugh touched on girl on the buttocks and thighs, kissed her on the mouth and squeezed her breasts at locations including Arbroath Sports Centre.
He carried out penetrative sex acts on her.
He had tried to engage a second young girl – then aged 14 – in sexual activity at his home in Letham, Angus.
Haugh made her wear a dress, grabbed her breast while she went to the toilet, and tried to take pictures of her in a “state of undress” between early 2010 and the end of 2011.
The paedophile tried to claim the girls were conspiring against him.
He went on to say he was convinced his youngest victim had been “coached” by the older one on what to say.
Haugh claimed his youngest victim was a “troubled child” and could not recall any incident at Arbroath Leisure Centre.
The jury also found him guilty of possessing and producing indecent images of children on his computer, again at his home address, between August 2012 and October 2019.
During the trial, the court heard how police experts found the depraved pictures on his computer.
Haugh had tried to use software to clean his hard drive.
He claimed he used CC Cleaner on a regular basis to keep his computer in working order but it was used only once in 2019 — the day following a police visit in which they informed him he was under investigation.
For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.
