A predatory Dundee paedophile plied a 15-year-old schoolgirl with drink and drugs before raping her while she was unconscious.
Lee McPherson, 43, coerced the teenager to meet him to give her drugs and raped her repeatedly.
A jury was told he gave her handfuls of street Valium before forcing himself on her at various locations in the city.
Jurors were told, after they found him guilty of raping the child multiple times and sending her depraved sexual communications, he is already a registered sex offender and has a previous conviction for breaching a Sexual Harm Order.
McPherson began controlling the under-age girl after his 23-year-old partner invited her and two other schoolgirls to their flat in Dundee and bought them alcohol.
Pregnancy fears
The High Court in Livingston heard McPherson – who has “an unhealthy interest in young girls” – bombarded the troubled youngster with text messages calling her pet names like “Princess” and “Twinkletoes”.
The pervert fantasised about dressing her up in a maid’s outfit and being her pimp to prostitute her to other men.
The jury was shown text messages in which the pervert boasted about sex and revealed he had already fathered nine children.
The youngster gave evidence at McPherson’s trial that she lay “frozen and staring at the wall” during the drugged sex sessions and turned her head away when McPherson tried to kiss her.
When she told him she feared she might be pregnant he ordered her not to reveal he might be the baby’s dad, telling her: “Ha ha, not mine”.
After she revealed her mother was “going mental” about the possible pregnancy, he sent her a text saying: “She’ll tell social work but I’m well ahead of her.
“As long as I don’t sign the birth certificate there’s no proof for them to do anything.”
Plied with drugs and booze before rape
During the trial McPherson’s young victim recalled how she felt unwell after drinking vodka, peach schnapps and Mad Dog 20/20 and smoking “20 joints” of cannabis pollen the first time she met the accused.
She said she passed out and woke for a couple of seconds at a time, on one occasion with McPherson on top of her.
She told a friend immediately afterwards he had raped her.
Defence counsel Kelly Duling argued her client had a reasonable belief from the beginning the girl was 18-years-old.
Jury returns guilty verdicts
McPherson, of Lochee Road, Dundee, denied raping the child at his home in November 2018 while she was “sleeping, intoxicated and incapable of giving or withholding consent”.
He also denied raping her on various occasions between November 2018 and January 2019 in a property in Clepington Road and at Caird Park, both Dundee.
She was vulnerable and you took advantage of that by controlling her ability clearly to consent in order to fulfil your own sexual desires.”
— Judge Lady Haldane.
He further denied sending the girl and her 15-year-old schoolmate messages of a sexual nature and lodged a special defence claiming the 15-year-old was fully awake and consenting when he had sex with her.
He claimed the sexual messages had all been “stupid jokes”.
Jurors took just over four hours to find him guilty of the two rape charges and of sending sexual messages to his victim.
He was acquitted of the remaining charge after it was found not proven.
Sick ‘interest’ in young girls
Judge Lady Haldane called for background reports and adjourned the case until November 4 at the High Court in Edinburgh.
She told McPherson: “You… were in your 30s at the time, displaying clearly an interest in a girl less than half your age.
“She was vulnerable and you took advantage of that by controlling her ability clearly to consent in order to fulfil your own sexual desires.
“These convictions will inevitably attract a considerable custodial sentence.
“However I want to find out more about your background so I’m going to instruct a criminal justice social work report.”
McPherson is already on the Sex Offenders Register.
He was remanded in custody and showed no emotion as he was led to the cells.
