KOI SPECIALIST GUILTY OF HISTORICAL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN LIVINGSTON
A koi carp specialist who was found guilty by a jury of molesting three children over thirty years ago has been warned he faces a jail sentence.Dean Dimarco, 67, who is owner and director of The Koi Clinic in Darlington, County Durham, was convicted of using lewd, indecent, and libidinous practices towards three children at a property in Livingston, West Lothian, between January 1991 and March 1993.
The court heard that Dimarco, a respected judge within the koi carp world and founder of the ChatterKoi PhotoShow, had engaged in a series of abusive behaviors.
The victims, who were aged between 12 and 16 years old at the time, reported that Dimarco had massaged and touched their breasts, made inappropriate requests to see their genitalia, and invited them to lie in his bed while he was undressed.
He also walked around with his penis exposed and spied on children in the bath and shower.
One victim recounted that he repeatedly touched her breasts while she was in the bath at age 12, and another described catching him staring at her through a glass panel in the bathroom when she was 14.
The victims only became aware of each other's experiences after discussing their pasts about four years ago.
Following a police investigation after one victim reported the abuse, Dimarco was arrested and charged.
He denied all offences, claiming the women had fabricated the claims, but a jury dismissed his defense and returned majority guilty verdicts at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
The court proceedings included testimony from the victims, who described how Dimarco would make them play wrestling games and abuse them during his care of them in the early 1990s.
Sheriff Douglas Keir emphasized the manipulative and shameful conduct, stating, "This was quite clearly manipulative and shameful conduct carried out over a number of years.
All options are open to this court including a custodial sentence." Dimarco was placed on the sex offenders register, and his sentence was deferred for the preparation of a social work report and assessment for a restriction of liberty order.
The sheriff deferred sentencing until the following month.
