A former policeman is facing jail for a second time after carrying out sex attacks on a teenage air cadet more than 40 years ago.
Colin Fowler carried out two indecent assaults after inviting the boy to his then-home in Anstruther and offering him drink.
Fowler, now aged 81, was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment in 2018 for sex offences against two other victims who he plied with drink and molested after meeting them through the air training corps.
He was released on licence in 2021.
Befriended and abused cadets
Fowler was working for Fife Constabulary at the time of the crimes and served as a cadet leader at RAF Pitreavie in Dunfermline.
He had denied carrying out sex attacks on the two former cadets at his 2018 trial but was unanimously found guilty of committing the crimes against the youths, who were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.
Fowler appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this week where he pled guilty to two further offences against the third victim.
He admitted carrying out two indecent assaults between January and December 1982 at his former home in East Green, Anstruther.
Advocate depute Eric Robertson told the court on Wednesday Fowler is a retired police officer and receives a police pension.
The prosecutor said Fowler’s previous offending was “directly analogous” to the latest charges as the victims were all befriended by him while they were involved with the cadets and he would supply them with alcohol after inviting them to his home and sharing a bed with them.
Mr Robertson said the latest complainer was aged 17 or 18 at the time Fowler subjected him to abuse after inviting him to his home to show him a Scottish fishing village.
He said the victim knew Fowler’s connection with the police and did not think he would be believed if he told anyone what had happened.
The prosecutor said he did call Dunfermline police station in the 1980s to report Fowler but did not receive a call back.
He said he had the feeling his report was not being taken seriously at the time.
Abuser’s health conditions
Mr Robertson said Fowler caused the victim “anguish, depression and difficulty finding enjoyment in life”.
He found out the accused had been convicted of offences against other boys and contacted Police Scotland in 2020..
Defence counsel Tony Lenehan KC said Fowler has health difficulties, including Parkinson’s disease.
He said: “Parkinson’s means the ability to reach back four decades or more in his memory has not been straightforward.”
He said that his client, of Harbourlea, Anstruther, now lives in sheltered accommodation and asked that his bail be continued ahead of a sentencing hearing next month.
The judge, Lord Armstrong, called for a background report to be prepared and continued bail.
Fowler was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and is due to be sentenced on December 1 at the High Court in Glasgow.
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