An Aberdeen man who was convicted of sexually assaulting children for decades has died in prison.
William Hay was convicted of 12 charges at Glasgow High Court in April 2021.
They involved the sexual abuse of 10 victims between January 1981 and August 2016.
He died at HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow on December 28 last year at the age of 74.
Hay met most of his victims, aged between 10 and 15, through sea cadet training and local school football teams.
His series of crimes took place in Aberdeen and Perthshire, including at a beach, a campsite, a sports complex and a golf club.
He was described as a “sexual predator” who betrayed the children’s “friendship and trust”.
Convicted William Hay has died in prison
The then 72-year-old was finally brought to justice and sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh in May 2021.
The judge, Lord Sandison, said custody was the only sentence available and sent Hay to jail for 12 years.
He had only completed a few years of his sentence when he died last month.
At Hay’s sentencing, Lord Sandison told him: “You continue to maintain that your victims have conspired to malign you with elaborate and complex stories.
“However, you are not fooling anybody anymore.
“Your conduct shows how you put your own needs for sexual gratification before any sense of decency.
“I commend your victims in coming forward, giving evidence against you and bringing an end to what I can only describe as being your career of abuse.. and which has resulted in you finally receiving your own just desserts.”
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