A SERIAL sex offender was today handed a life sentence after a high-profile probe into abuse at a former children's home.

Alistair Findlay, 60, who preyed on five vulnerable youngsters in the 1970s and 80s, was given an order for lifelong restriction and jailed for four and half months.

At the High Court in Glasgow judge Lord Matthews told Findlay: “You were convicted of seven charges of sexual abuse of children in respect of whom you were in a position of trust.

“When you are released will be for others to determine. The risk you pose to the public is a high one.”

The court heard that Findlay's victims bravely came forward decades later and brought him to justice.

Findlay worked at the time at Park Lodge Children's Home then in Glasgow's Newlands.

He was initially prosecuted – and then cleared – in 1984 following allegations made by residents.

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But, last year, police launched a fresh investigation into abuse claims at the former Glasgow City Council home that shut in 2008.

It resulted in Findlay being hauled into the dock as victims recalled harrowing ordeals at his hands.

He denied the accusations – even insisting claims had been made as “revenge” for him previously being acquitted.

But, he was found guilty of seven sex charges following a trial.

These included separate attacks on a girl not from the home and a boy he was teaching to swim.

After the verdict, jurors were told of Findlay's horrendous list of sex offences.

He was jailed for six years in 1999 for trying to lure a 10 year-old girl into a paedophile ring.

Other crimes included being locked up again for three years in 2004 for having indecent images of children.

He was last jailed for two years in 2016 for abusing boys during swimming lessons.

Findlay, who continues to deny the offences, was placed on the sex offenders' register.

Police Scotland's investigation into Findlay lasted 18 months. 

Inspector James McLauchlan said: "Findlay is an odious individual who preyed on vulnerable young people who should have been safe in his care. I welcome his conviction and sentence and am grateful to the victims who somehow found the courage, even after their horrific ordeals, to come forward and provide the information which allowed us to bring him to justice.

"I would also acknowledge the diligence of the officers who investigated his crimes and brought him before the courts.

"Police Scotland is committed to tackling sexual abuse in any form and I would encourage anyone who has been a victim to report it and I can guarantee it will be fully investigated."

You can read Lord Matthews statement in full here

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