A former coach at St Andrews Rifle Club has been placed on the sex offenders register after being found guilty of touching female students.
Volunteer Patrick Jess was found guilty of a string of sexual assaults at the Fife shooting club.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Jess would run errands for the women, including looking after pets and helping them with university work.
His victims believed he was an employee of the university and the 52-year-old never corrected them, ashamed of his actual role as a “house husband”.
Jess, who is autistic, was later “terminated” from the university club where he had been president.
The first offender will be sentenced in May after being found guilty of four charges by Sheriff Gregor Murray and is now on the sex offenders register.
Shooting club assaults
Jess, of Bonfield Park in Strathkinness, was convicted of sexually assaulting four women at St Andrews Rifle Club and elsewhere.
He targeted his first victim between September 2019 and March 2023, repeatedly handling her buttocks.
He inappropriately touched her while fixing a shooting jacket.
The court heard he said: “I don’t know how to do this without sexually assaulting you.”
Defending, Mark Stewart KC asked his client during the trial: “Was there any sexual intent in placing your hands in the area inside her jacket near to her breasts?”
Jess: “Absolutely none. I was clear that I had consent for all of these interactions. I was making a joke.”
Jess was convicted of sexually assaulting a second woman between 2021 and 2023.
On various occasions, he handled her breasts and repeatedly touched her buttocks.
Third victim
Jess touched his third victim’s buttocks on various occasions during a similar time period.
The trial heard they would “cuddle in bed for many hours” while she suffered from poor mental health.
Jess said: “I felt I gradually got into a situation where I was beyond a normal interaction and, quite rightly, I could have stepped away at any point.
“I had good intentions. I wanted her to be well and happy.”
He denied touching her inappropriately during these cuddles.
“I certainly did not caress her for sexual intention.”
When asked if he accepted his behaviour was predatory, he said: “No, I do not.”
More offending
His fourth victim was sexually assaulted on various occasions between 2022 and 2023.
Jess repeatedly directed sexual remarks at the “high quality” sportsperson and handled her breasts.
He said: “I had absolutely no interest in having sexual interactions with these people at all.
“I think they have been misconstrued. I was very familiar towards a line I did not see.
“I had good intentions to help and support people but that has not worked out well and that was my responsibility.”
Felt like a failure
Jess, who wore a University of St Andrews tie in court, said: “I have got a way in which I interact with people – if I share an interest with somebody, I share it really intensely.
“If somebody asks me to help them about something I just keep going. I would go into hours and days and weeks in an attempt to fix things.
“I have a very, very dark – fairly extreme – sense of humour. I have also tended to use double entendre.”
Jess has a history degree but was unsuccessful in forging a career. Instead, he chose to support his wife’s career in teaching.
He said: “I said I was a historical researcher. I never pretended to be a member of staff.
“I wanted people to believe I was normal and had a normal job. I let people believe something that wasn’t true.
“I didn’t tell my friends and family I was unemployed and a house husband.
“What I wanted to do was teach people. I felt like a failure.”
‘Extremely serious’ charges
Before convicting Jess, Sheriff Murray told the trial he had spent longer going over his notes in this case than any other in 14 years.
Prosecutor Michael Robertson said: “Ultimately, this isn’t a case where the defence is… consent.”
Mr Stewart labelled the charges as “extremely serious, particularly given his previous good character and his difficulties with neurodiversity.”
He added: “The Sexual Offences Scotland Act 2009 is not designed to create criminals, it’s designed to protect against criminality.
“He was a confidant. It’s almost a feeling of ‘I need to be liked to be seen, to be helpful.’
“It’s the sort of conduct that puts people in harm’s way.”
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