A man who forced two young children to simulate sex acts while he pleasured himself has been jailed.
Ralph Pickthall targeted the children at an address in Perthshire in the late 80s and early 90s.
Following a trial at Stirling Sheriff Court, the 62-year-old was found guilty of all five charges levelled against him.
Sentencing him to four years in prison, Sheriff Derek Hamilton said: “The jury unanimously found you guilty of all five charges and the criminal justice social work report states you have shown little, if any, responsibility for your actions.
”The offences were committed whilst you were in an assured position of trust.”
Sheriff Hamilton also placed Pickthall on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.
‘High level of need for intervention’
Solicitor Alistair Sloane, defending, conceded there were “matters of concern” in the social work report prepared on Pickthall prior to his sentencing.
He said: “The assessment by social work of further offending is medium.
“The social worker clearly has concerns in that regard. There’s a high level of need for intervention.
“There’s no moving away from the fact that the jury conviction of Mr Pickthall is serious and Mr Pickthall is aware a lengthy custodial sentence is inevitable.”
Catalogue of crimes
A jury found Pickthall, of Nairn, guilty of three charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards two children between May 1989 and January 1996.
He is said to have targeted a boy from the ages of five and 11, with a girl falling victim between the ages of six and 13.
Pickthall repeatedly exposed his own genitals to them, repeatedly masturbated in their presence, showed them pornographic images, made inappropriate sexual remarks and gestures and had the pair act out sexual positions while he masturbated.
The boy was also encouraged to masturbate and Pickthall masturbated him.
The girl was watched in the shower and forced to strip naked for the simulated sex acts.
The jury also further found Pickthall guilty of two charges towards a woman – one of committing an act of public indecency by flashing her on a riverbank in Dumfries and Galloway and another of indecently assaulting her during a car journey by rubbing her leg.
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