A rapist who carried out a series of perverted sex acts on vulnerable teenagers in Dundee was yesterday jailed for eight years .
John Alfred Perkinton, 48, was also told his name would remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely for what a judge described as “serious sexual offending”.
A jury earlier convicted Perkinton, of Clepington Court, of one charge of rape and three charges of lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour.
He was found guilty of two counts of carrying out a sex act on an 11-year-old boy between May 1996 and May 1997 at an address in the city’s West End and in an unknown wooded area in Dundee.
He was also convicted of touching a 13-year-old schoolgirl on the body and attempting to kiss her between January 1998 and January 1999 at an address in the West End.
Perkinton was further convicted of assaulting and raping a 16-year-old girl after getting her intoxicated with alcohol and drugs at an address in Dundee between July 1999 and July 2000.
Leigh Lawrie, Perkinton’s defence counsel, said he still maintained his innocence as he had at trial and insisted that the offences never took place.
She said: “He comes from a closely supportive family. His mother gave evidence for her son during the course of trial and he retains the support of his father, mother and sister and the social work report says they are devastated by what happened in court.”
His defence said the accused had been in several long-term relationships and had given up his job in 2007 because he was starting to assume much of the responsibility for caring for his children.
Since then he had worked as a driver, firstly with DHL and latterly with a nationwide company.
She added that although he had previous convictions they were all at summary level and he had not previously served a prison term.
Passing sentence, Judge Lord Beckett told Perkinton: “Taking all these matters together, in such serious sexual offending there is no suitable alternative to a prison sentence to punish you and seek to deter others from behaving in this way.
“I will impose one sentence to cover all the charges and you will go to prison for eight years.”
He backdated the sentence to May 3 when Perkinton was remanded in custody and told him his name would remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely.