DUNDEE PENSIONER SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR DECADES-OLD CHILD ABUSE
Raymond McCandless, aged 71, has been sentenced to prison for historic sexual offences committed against three young girls over a period spanning nearly 20 years.He made a last-ditch plea claiming he was the sole carer for his wife, but the court found his crimes had a lasting and severe impact on his victims.
McCandless had admitted to lewd and libidinous behavior against three girls, starting when he was just 13 years old.
One victim was only four years old at the time.
The court was informed that his first abuse was of a seven-year-old girl during the summer of 1964.
One victim confided in McCandless's mother immediately after the initial attack, but was not believed at that time.
Decades later, two of the women disclosed their abuse to their husbands, which led to police investigation.
At the sentencing hearing, the solicitor requested a community disposal, citing McCandless's care duties, but Sheriff Alastair Carmichael sentenced him to 16 months in jail and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.
The sheriff emphasized the profound impact of the offences, stating that one girl was targeted "once a week or every few days" when McCandless was 29 to 31 years old.
The crimes inflicted devastating effects on their health and well-being, effects that persist to the present day.
The offences involved multiple instances of sexual abuse, including creeping into a girl’s bedroom, shoving her against a door, covering her mouth, and telling her to "shoosh" to prevent her from calling for help, as well as coercing her to sit on his knee for assault.
The court detailed the abuse of three girls between 1964 and 1983, with the victims now in their late 60s.
McCandless, originally from Finella Terrace in Dundee, was convicted of abusing girls aged eight or nine in 1964-1965, a girl aged four in 1971, and a third girl aged eight between 1981 and 1983.
Evidence presented by the prosecution included descriptions of assaults where McCandless crept into bedrooms and assaulted victims when they were alone.
Records indicate that the case was brought to police attention after victims disclosed their abuse to their spouses, with one girl describing her confusion, believing the abuse was part of a game at the time.
The sheriff recognized the seriousness of the offences, the ongoing harm to victims, and the fact that McCandless had no prior convictions, which factored into the sentencing decision.
