Child rapist who went AWOL during trial is jailed for nine years
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A SERIAL sex attacker who went AWOL during his trial has been jailed for nine years.
Edward Findlay (57), from Elgin, preyed on four girls in different locations across Scotland during a 25-year campaign of abuse.
Findlay raped three girls, one of who was just six years old at the time. He was convicted of lewd and libidinous behaviour against another girl.
The crimes occurred between 1995 and 2019 in Elgin and Fochabers, as well as in Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
The 57-year-old went on trial at a High Court hearing in Inverness earlier this year.
He had been on bail at that time – but went on the run and failed to turn up on three consecutive days after victims had relived harrowing ordeals to jurors. Findlay was eventually found guilty in his absence.
A warrant was then issued for his arrest, with police appealing for Moray locals to help locate Findlay in June, as he was thought to have returned to the area from East Dunbartonshire. Police advised the public not to approach Findlay.
He was arrested in June and appeared via video link from prison on Wednesday, July 20, for sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow.
Lady Drummond told him: "From the pre-sentencing report, it appears that you have taken no responsibility for your crimes or the impact your behaviour has had."
The judge sentenced him to a total of eight years for these offences. She added a further 12 months after convicting him of contempt of court for going missing during the trial.
Lady Drummond added: "I have no hesitation in finding that you acted in wilful defiance of the court's authority.
"It had the potential to jeopardise your trial after witnesses had given evidence."
Findlay will be monitored for four years after his release from prison. He will be on the sex offenders list indefinitely.
