'I just gave in' says victim as coach who groomed young girls for sex is jailed

Published on Friday 19 March 2010 21:51

A SPORTS coach who cajoled a series of schoolgirls into a string of sexual liaisons was jailed for three and a half years yesterday.

Iain Johnston, 21, groomed vulnerable youngsters while working as a voluntary coach at a youth club in Glenrothes, Fife.

He preyed on four underage girls aged 14 and 15 over a three-year period – first meeting one of them when she was just 13.

The High Court in Falkirk heard that he had unlawful sexual intercourse with each of them, sometimes repeatedly, in his house and in woods.

One girl, who was only 14 when Johnston first had sex with her, said she had "just given in" when Johnston, a student at Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy, asked her to have intercourse.

Johnston, of Glenrothes, Fife, appeared for sentence after pleading guilty last month to four charges of having had unlawful sexual intercourse with the girls between July 2006 and last May.

He had originally faced charges of raping the girls, but the rape claims were dropped by the prosecution.

In addition to the jail term, Judge Lord Emslie made Johnston subject to an extended sentence of a further three years, to be served on licence and in the community, and placed him on the sex offenders' register.

He said: "The court has to take seriously offences of this nature which involve girls who are too young or immature to fend for themselves.

"You have taken advantage of four girls who are considerably younger than yourself."

Lord Emslie added: "Measures need to be taken to protect the public and young girls from further harm from you."

Johnston was also referred to Scottish ministers, under the terms of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003, who will decide whether he should face a ban on working with children when he is released.

Prosecutor Alastair Carmichael told the court that the first girl Johnston had had sex with met him at the youth club when she was 15 and he was 18.

The advocate depute said: "He knew her age but very soon started a sexual relationship with her.

"That would take place two or three times a week."

He said that Johnston's second victim knew him through friends.

"They sent each other text messages," Mr Carmichael said.

"He started sending texts saying to come to his house.

"She went to his house and he had sex with her. On the first occasion she was 14. He knew how old she was."

And Mr Carmichael went on to explain how Johnston had invited the third girl to his home to watch a film.

"She agreed, and had sex with him in his bedroom," he said. "She was 15 and he knew this."

The fourth girl, who Johnston first met when she was 13, told the court how she and Johnston had been among a group of youths drinking in a Glenrothes park last May, when she was aged 15.

She said she was going home and Johnston offered to walk with her, before taking her into a wooded area and having sex with her for the first time.

Another girl told how she had once played truant from school to meet him at his home for sex.

She told the court she was 14 when they first had sex and she had "just given in" when Johnston made it clear why he had invited her to his house.

Mark Stewart, QC, defending, said Johnston was an immature young man who "found he was better able to relate" to "younger women".

He added: "There does not seem to have been any cynical intent on behalf of my client.

"He accepts full responsibility for what happened and understands it was wrong."

Johnston appeared to be on the verge of tears as he was led away to the cells.