A Fife child sex attacker has finally been jailed, 15 years after he turned his victim’s family against her.
Johnstone Blake carried out a “sustained catalogue” of sex crimes against two young girls.
After pleading guilty in February, Blake turned round and said “I’m sorry” to two women in the public gallery of a Dundee courtroom prior to being remanded.
One of the girls he abused first spoke out about the older predator in 2009 but withdrew her allegations when she was accused of lying.
Blake was finally caught after the girl, who is now in her 30s, taped him admitting his sick conduct over the phone.
He has now been jailed and placed on the sex offenders register.
A sheriff reprimanded the first offender for causing his victims “lifelong psychological trauma.”
‘Reputation in tatters’
Solicitor David Bell said: “Mr Blake accepts his behaviour was wrong and that there’s no fault on the victims.
“That, to some extent, is a refreshing approach.
“However, that said, there is no mitigation that can effectively be presented about the offences themselves.
“They’re clearly extremely serious.
“Whilst I don’t submit that the time period is necessarily a huge factor, the fact that the offending seems to have ceased back in 2009 can also be a factor.
“In the community, there have been impacts already.
“He tells me that his health has been impacted by his significant use of alcohol.
“His reputation is massively in tatters.”
Jailed
Blake, 66, was jailed for two years, reduced from three because of his early guilty pleas.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith imposed non-harassment orders for five years.
The sheriff said of the first incident: “The age of your complainer should have been known.
“Even if I was to believe you mistakenly thought she was 16, there was a significant imbalance of power.
“Your comments, while refreshing in nature, do give me cause for concern.
“At 31, thinking that a 16-year-old sitting on your knee at a Hogmanay party is a green light to enter her bedroom (and perform sex acts on her), you would be seriously mistaken.”
Of Blake’s second victim, the sheriff added: “I’m satisfied that you should have known that acting in the way you did would have caused psychological harm.
“I consider that your culpability is high.
“It’s clear from the terms of the report that you committed the offences for your sexual gratification.
“The victim in charge one has suffered anxiety and depression due to your actions. 35 years on, the still gets a fright if touched in her sleep.
“The victim in charge two has had suicidal ideations because of your actions and suffered throughout her life with psychological trauma.
“I consider your actions have caused lifelong psychological trauma for both of your victims.”
The sheriff noted the maximum sentence on each offence was two years and imposed a headline sentence of three years, discounted by a third, noting Blake’s victims were spared the lengthy wait for justice and stress of giving evidence.
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