A predator convicted of having sexually abused two boys in Fife has been jailed for four years.
Robert Brown, 59, targeted one of the children from when they were aged nine and the other from the age of 14.
A trial heard Brown would show his vulnerable victims pornographic videos and perform sex acts on them at his then-home addresses in the Cowdenbeath area.
The children were abused several years apart and police had no evidence they were known to each other, the trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard.
Giving evidence, Brown accepted he watched pornography and masturbated in the presence of his teenage victim but denied any sexual contact.
He claimed his younger victim once switched on his TV to see part of a porn movie he had accidentally left playing and again denied any sexual contact.
A unanimous jury found him guilty of repeatedly sexually assaulting or indecently assaulting the boys.
‘Terrible breach of trust’
Brown, formerly of Blair Street, Kelty, appeared in court on Monday for sentencing by video link to prison, having been remanded after the guilty verdicts earlier this month.
Sheriff Susan Duff told him: “In relation to the young child, you committed the most terrible breach of trust.
“You befriended the child’s parents… you abused their son.
“Your other victim was a particularly vulnerable young person.
“He was from an unhappy home and bullied at school and you facilitated truancy from school by allowing him to attend your home, exposed his vulnerability and abused him.
“Your conduct has had an enormous impact on that victim, affecting all areas of his adult life”.
Sheriff Duff sentenced Brown to four years in prison, backdated to August 1 this year.
He was also put on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.
Abuse spanned years
Brown’s abuse of his younger victim took place on various occasions over a three-year period in the 2010s at an address in the Cowdenbeath area.
He showed him pornographic videos, sexually assaulted him, caused him to participate in sexual activity and be present during sexual activity.
This included causing him to perform a sex act on him and performing sex acts on the boy.
The earlier abuse of his teenage victim happened on various occasions over a two-year period in the 2000s at another address in the area and at Blairadam Forest, near Kelty, and various roads between them.
It involved making a sexual remark to the boy, touching and rubbing his body, showing him porn videos, performing a sex act on him and inducing him to perform sex acts on him.
‘Sexual predator’
In her closing speech to jurors, prosecutor Sarah Wilkinson detailed nine similarities in the nature of Brown’s offending on each of his two victims.
She highlighted the boys’ vulnerabilities, that it happened at Brown’s home, the specific conduct described by the victims in their evidence, and the showing of porn movies.
She said: “It demonstrates Robert Brown is a sexual predator who has a predilection for male children.”
Defence counsel Paul Keenan said on Monday his client’s position at trial remains the same.
He said Brown has had problems with alcohol throughout his life and is now sober.
Brown was cleared of a third allegation of sexually assaulting one of his victims on a later occasion when he was aged 16, after jurors found the charge not proven.
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