A predatory paedophile is finally behind bars after vile sex attacks on two underage boys during the 1970s and 1980s.
A sheriff told John Finlay that he hoped jailing him would offer his victims some satisfaction after “a lifetime of torture”.
The court heard how he lured playing children in off the street in Letham, Fife.
The abuse began when Finlay, now 65, was a child himself.
Finlay was condemned for trying to pay off the survivors with a “derisory” £200 per month from his private pension.
He was further placed on the sex offenders register for ten years.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard his vile attacks had cast a lifelong shadow over the lives of his two victims.
Handing down a 27-month sentence, Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said: “It was in your power to have brought matters to a conclusion much earlier than you did, given that you must have lived for the last 45 years in the knowledge that the police might have come to your door.”
Addictions
The sheriff added: “In imposing the sentence I have, I expect the complainers will view that as more satisfactory than the receipt of some derisory sum of money for a lifetime of torture.”
He noted that one of the victims had turned to drugs to deal with the trauma, and had been forced to give up his job, while the other had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The complainer in charge one said they have never felt safe in their entire life,” the sheriff said.
“There was a period where they had recourse to abusive substances, which is often the case with individuals who have been sexually abused at a young age.
“The harm you caused inveigled every aspect of his life to the point where he required to give up employment because of the state of his mental health.
“That’s a consequence of your actions.”
The sheriff continued: “You have offered to pay compensation and the reason you are in a position to pay compensation is that you have a private pension. Unlike your victim you have had a continuous work record to contribute to your pension pot.
“You offer a miserly amount of money as if it would be compensation for a man whose life had been ruined by your conduct.”
Victim left with PTSD
Of the second victim, Sheriff Niven-Smith said: “That individual has had lifelong difficulties involving him seeing psychiatrists and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It is difficult in the field of sexual offences to imagine a case in which the harm could be any greater.”
Finlay was living in plain sight as a friendly neighbour who was trusted to babysit children in the Fife village of Letham.
But he would lure his victims into his home and then carry out serious sex attacks upon them before warning them not to tell their parents what he had done.
Almost 50 years after the abuse of one four-year-old boy had started, he bumped into another man who had played in the same street.
It was their conversation in January 2021 about the abuse they had suffered at the hands of Finlay which led to police becoming involved and the paedophile being arrested.
Finlay, of Forres Drive, Glenrothes, admitted lewd and libidinous behaviour towards a boy between four and six years old from October 1971 to October 1973.
He admitted abusing the second boy in his former home from the age of 11, between November 1978 and November 1980.
‘Our wee secret’
Fiscal depute Emma Farmer told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The accused was aged between 12 and 21 at the time of the offences. The first complainer was playing outside in the street when Finlay approached him.
“He was then within Finlay’s bedroom when the accused stood up and exposed himself and asked the boy to touch him.”
A series of sex acts on the youngster were carried out.
She said his family moved away during the 1970s and the abuse stopped.
A few years later, the second boy was targeted by Finlay and was given a music cassette to listen to before being asked to return it to his home.
“He was instructed to sit next to the accused on the bed.”
The abuse took place and Findlay said: “It won’t last long because mum and dad are back from the shops soon.”
Further sex attacks on the boy took place and Finlay told him: “What just happened is our wee secret.”
The child was “petrified” and ran out of the property.
The court heard that Finlay had been trusted to babysit the boy, but his parents had stopped asking him after the boy told them that he did not like being with Finlay. The assaults were eventually reported decades later.
“Upon reading about a police investigation in the newspaper, memories of the abuse came back to him. He met the other victim who lived in the street at the time.
“They discussed the abuse that had taken place and decided to go to the police.”
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