A former Scots boarding school teacher from Perthshire has been jailed for nine years for the abuse of 11 boys.
William Bain preyed on pupils while working at three different fee-paying schools.
The victims included one boy who had gone to “kindly” Bain for help because he was being bullied.
The ex-physics teacher – now aged 72 – had been due to stand trial but pled guilty to 11 sex abuse charges.
Bain had previously been locked up for six-and-a-half years in 2016 for similar offences against five boys at a school in Dunbartonshire and was freed in 2020.
The 11 charges spanning between 1978 and 1999 consisted mainly of lewd and libidinous behaviour as well as indecent assault.
Years of abuse
Bain first abused a 12 year-old boy during detention at a private school in Edinburgh, where he was latterly a house tutor.
The next boy was abused after seeking help with homework.
By the mid-1980s, house master Bain had moved to a private school in Aberdeen where he targeted one “isolated and homesick” boy – bringing him into his room to “look after him” but then abusing him.
Bain’s next victims were at the same boarding school in Dunbartonshire involved in the 2016 case.
One teenager was molested on three occasions in the physics teacher’s laboratory.
Another boy had been the victim of bullying and described the school as a “brutal environment”.
A third boy was “drawn” to Bain due to his apparent “kindly nature”.
The ex-Cambridge University graduate groomed the youngster by giving him sweets and taking him to fast food restaurants.
Incidents of indecency happened in the camera club dark room, rugby training, hillwalking trips and in the pervert’s private flat.
One boy spoke of feeling “uncomfortable” as the teacher watched him and others showering.
Abuse Inquiry admissions
The court heard Bain, of Crieff, had latterly been living with his 99 year-old mother.
Brian McConnachie KC, defending, told the sentencing hearing at the High Court in Glasgow: “He tells me, that around the time of the millennium, he accepted that his behaviour had been out of control and he was determined to put an end to it.
“He has given evidence at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. He not only spoke about his own offending, but assisted with evidence of the culture that existed at the schools that he was involved with.”
Sentencing, Lord Young said he had read a number of victim impact statements describing the “terrible legacy” left by Bain’s abuse.
The judge said the then boys were left feeling “alone and lost” thinking they would not be believed had they spoken out at the time.
“These children were entrusted by their parents to the schools. They ought to have been nurtured and educated in a safe environment.
“Instead, it seems that throughout your career as a teacher, you abused this position to pursue your own sexual deviances.”
Bain remains on the sex offenders list.
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