A former worship leader from Fife who raped a teenage churchgoer during a catalogue of sex crimes against women and girls has been given a life sentence.
Stephen Charters, 57, attacked the teenager at hotels in Edinburgh after she made a cry for help to him.
He had earlier preyed on other victims.
Judge Lady Carmichael told the predator: “The offending is serious.
“It covers a period of many years and includes convictions for rape.
“It has caused serious and enduring harm.”
The judge said: “You present a high risk of further sexual offending.
“You have a limited capacity for change.”
At the High Court in Edinburgh, she imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) on the rapist and ruled he must serve a minimum term of five years.
She said: “It is important to understand that does not mean you will be released at the end of that period.”
Continues to maintain innocence
Charters will only ever be released if parole authorities decide his imprisonment is no longer necessary for the protection of the public.
He was convicted last year of nine offences, including rape, sexual assault and indecent conduct towards four victims, committed between November 1984 and October 2015.
He has already served a five year jail term imposed on him in 2016 for sex crimes against children.
Defence counsel Mark Stewart QC said Charters continues to maintain his innocence.
A background report and two further expert reports were obtained on the sex offender following the trial.
Mr Stewart acknowledged: “The reports each conclude that he presents a high risk of further offending and that there is a high risk that offending would involve sexual violence.”
‘Christian beliefs’
During Charters’ trial he had claimed sex with the teenager in hotels was consensual but the victim said it made her feel “horrible inside”.
She said during the ordeal she was “just frozen”.
Charters, formerly of Galashiels, in the Scottish Borders, told the court he held “Christian beliefs” and was involved with the church in Edinburgh as a young adult.
He said that in 1984 he was involved with a Baptist church in Edinburgh but had become a Christian “years before”.
The girl he raped in hotels had attended a church in Leven, where he acted as a worship leader.
The teenager had an argument with a boyfriend in 2015 and was facing difficulties with accommodation.
She was in contact with Charters through social media and he went to pick her up.
‘Cry for help’
Prosecutor Steven Borthwick said: “It was a cry for help from her to you.”
Charters replied: “Yes, I suppose you could put it that way.”
He said: “I went over to help her out because she had no accommodation and she was scared.”
He claimed he hoped to contact her father and take her home.
Instead, he booked into a hotel and subjected her to sex acts before raping her.
The victim told the court: “It is hard to describe it when a guy forces himself on you.
“It was like he couldn’t get enough of me.”
She said: “I was just frozen.
“I couldn’t move. I got pushed onto the bed.
“I was hoping he was going to leave me alone.”
Past crimes
Charters was told he would be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.
His 2016 trial heard his offending began when he was a child, raping an 11-year-old when he was aged 13 or 14.
He had already molested a girl when he was just 12.
Charters was convicted of sex crimes between 1977 and 1997 in the Borders, South Lanarkshire and Midlothian, including at the Commonwealth swimming pool in Edinburgh.
During the period between then and his conviction in 2015, he worked as a bus driver, including driving children to school.
