Ex-teacher denies sex assaults on deaf children

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Ex-teacher denies sex assaults on deaf children - Scotsman.com News

A FORMER teacher has gone on trial charged with serious sexual offences against deaf children dating back more than 40 years.

Colin Macdonald is charged with 18 offences against victims as young as ten at camps and outdoor activity centres throughout the north of Scotland.

Macdonald, 61, is said to have plied some of the children with drink before committing offences ranging from gross indecency and sodomy to lewd and libidinous behaviour and indecent assault.

The alleged attacks are said to have happened at Glencoe, Glendoll, Aviemore, Sutherland, Mallaig, the islands of Rhum and Harris and at addresses in Hurlford, Ayrshire, and Glasgow between 1967 and 1983.

Macdonald, who is originally from the west of Scotland but now lives in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, denies all charges at the High Court in Kilmarnock.

The case was adjourned for legal debate yesterday and is expected to continue for up to ten weeks.
 
Kids' club leader 'brutally abused 100 boys'

Exclusive: Kids' club leader 'brutally abused 100 boys' - The Daily Record

A KIDS' club leader who brutally sexually assaulted boys as young as 10 during camping trips was last night facing jail.

Colin MacDonald, 61, was yesterday found guilty of 10 charges involving perverted attacks on boys - but police fear there could be up to 100 more victims who have not come forward.

The High Court in Kilmarnock was told the charges covered 10 years up to 1983.

During the trial, victims gave harrowing accounts of how deaf-mute MacDonald, who organised trips for kids from a deaf club, plied them with drink before forcing himself on them.

One, now 45, told how former teacher MacDonald, then of Glasgow, sneaked into his tent during a trip to Aviemore when he was 12.

He told how he screamed but no one could hear him because all of his companions were deaf.

The beast then went on to forcibly have sex with the boy's best friend, who was sharing the two-man tent.

Another victim, also now 45, said he saw MacDonald having sex with at least three boys after they downed cans of lager during camping trips in the north of Scotland.

The witness, from Lanarkshire, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "Colin is an evil pervert. All the children looked up to Colin as a role model.

"He was responsible for looking after us. He organised the trips.

"I kept quiet about it for a long time. I will never forget it. My head is a mess and my life is f***** up."

The court heard the Lanarkshire witness, who was abused when he was 12, was responsible for finally bringing MacDonald, who has been living in Yorkshire, to justice.

Two years ago, he reported the incidents to police, who traced other victims via email.

The witness told the court: "I was only a young boy. I thought about getting help the next day but where could I run to for help? The boys in the other tents had experienced it as well.

"My father was a hard man and if I had said anything perhaps he would have been angry with me."

The victim abused during the Aviemore trip told the court: "I woke up and Colin MacDonald was behind me.

"I tried to get away but his hands were gripping tightly on to my hips. He was a big man and I was a wee boy.

"I was lying on my front and I was screaming."

Asked by prosecutor Kath Harper how long it went on for, he replied: "It felt like a lifetime."

He said no one could hear him screaming because everyone on the trip was deaf, including MacDonald.

"When he was finished with me, he went on to GD and did the same thing to him. He was screaming too.

"I saw MacDonald do the same thing to him as he did to me.

"It lasted a few minutes and then MacDonald walked out.

"He told us to go to sleep. I was crying. We just looked at each other.

"We were both confused and did not know what to expect.

"We avoided talking about it and tried to forget it. He was my best friend and I never saw him after that because of MacDonald."

The witness said he was too frightened to reveal anything about the incident until the police contacted him by email before the trial.

The sex abuse took place during camping trips in Aviemore, Glencoe, Mallaig, Harris, Rum and Sutherland and at various Glasgow and Ayrshire addresses.

Paul Burns QC, defending, said his client had "acquired an international reputation in mountaineering" and had taken part in the Deaf Olympics.

The judge, Lord Malcolm, deferred sentence until next month for psychological and background reports, including a risk assessment.

He refused bail, telling Macdonald: 'You have been convicted of extremely serious charges and I'm not prepared to grant you bail."
 
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