Serial sex offender jailed for 15 years

A child rapist has been jailed for 15 years after subjecting four girls to a catalogue of horrifying abuse.

Eric Rafferty repeatedly raped two of his victims and tried to rape a third during an eight year spree of debauchery.

A judge said at the High Court in Edinburgh: "These are offences of the most appalling nature."

Lord Uist told the pensioner: "These offences consisted of calculated, systematic and depraved sexual abuse of four children when the opportunity arose for you to engage in such conduct."

"One girl was the subject of repeated rapes between the ages of six and nine, a second was the subject of repeated rapes between the ages of seven and 10," he said.

"All four girls were subjected to the most abhorrent sexual practices by you. These were unspeakably wicked crimes," he said.

Lord Uist pointed that a social worker who had interviewed the rapist was told by him that he loved one of the victims.

The judge said: "It has taken a long time for justice to catch up with you, but the day of reckoning has finally arrived."

"The gravity of the crimes which you committed against these four children must be marked by a very long sentence indeed," the judge told him.

He told the rapist that he would also be placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Rafferty (69) of Aberdeen, was earlier convicted of seven offences of rape, attempted rape and indecency against his victims committed between 1982 and 1990 at houses in his home city.

The predator got children to take off clothes during strip card games.

Another girl was also shown pornographic films.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson said Rafferty partially accepted responsibility for the sex crimes but denied the rape.

He said the former carer had no convictions prior to the offending or since it and had been assessed as posing a low or moderate risk of sexual re-offending.

He asked the judge to take account Rafferty's age in sentencing and pointed out that he received medication for heart problems.

Mr Paterson said that if Rafferty survived prison he would come out "significantly older".

He said that Rafferty accepted a custodial sentence was "absolutely inevitable" and will undertake a sex offender programme in prison.

But Lord Uist said: "The only reason that it is now he is being dealt with was because, as is fairly common in this type of case, a sufficient number of victims did not make their disclosures until many years later."

Mr Paterson said there had been an investigation into Rafferty in 1993 but that did not result in a prosecution.

The defence lawyer said that the reference to Rafferty describing himself as being in love with one victim to a social worker was him trying to say he loved the child like a daughter.

But Lord Uist said it could not be clearer what was meant in the terms of the background report. The judge added: "I am not talking about parental love."