A Peterhead man has been locked up after admitting raping a child and sexually assaulting another over a prolonged period.
Russell Maitland initially denied the historic offences but entered a guilty plea before the trial began.
The 37-year-old appeared at the High Court in Aberdeen charged with two counts of raping children under the age of 13, but one of the charges was reduced to sexual assault.
Maitland also admitted a charge of public indecency by flashing his penis at various locations around Peterhead over a six-year period – crimes he said he carried out “for the thrill”.
Victims bravely told teacher
The children, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were aged between four and 12 at the time of the attacks, which were said to have taken place at various locations across Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen.
Maitland admitted touching the private parts of one child whilst covering their eyes with a mask – but further charges of taking photographs of the child were dropped.
A charge of sexually assaulting a woman by touching her buttocks and private parts over her clothing was also dropped.
Advocate Depute Chris McKenna told the court one of the children had bravely told a schoolteacher about the assaults and the police became involved.
Mr McKenna explained that when interviewed by police Maitland had at first given “no comment” answers but when the second child’s evidence was put to him, he made some admissions.
Indecent exposure
“He said he had his penis exposed for the thrill and that he had been exposing himself around the Peterhead area ‘just for the thrill’,” Mr McKenna said.
Judge William Summers, deferred sentencing on Maitland until January, said: “There are profoundly serious offences, and they can only be dealt with by way of a lengthy custodial sentence.”
He placed Maitland on remand and asked for background reports to be produced, ordering the paedophile to return to the High Court on January 14 2025.
Paedophile Maitland, whose address was listed as Copeman Avenue, was also placed on the sex offenders register with immediate effect.