francis ward Child Sexual Abuser in Liverpool

Francis Ward, 69, sexually assaulted the children in Dornoch, Sutherland, when one was eight years old and another when she was eleven.

"He would just call me sexy and say I had a good figure," the older girl told the High Court in Edinburgh.

She claimed that she was "too terrified" to discuss what was occurring to her with anyone.

She claimed that he warned her that her family would suffer if she spoke to anyone.

The 20-year-old woman claimed to advocate depute Richard Goddard QC that she eventually found the confidence to speak up and inform the support staff who were assisting her at the time.

Despite having disputed four accusations involving the two girls, Ward, who is now retired, was found guilty of two sexual assaults, watching an underage girl engage in a private act, and communicating sexually with her.

The most serious part of one of the assault charges—that he had raped the elder girl—was struck down by the jury.

The offenses took place from 2012 to 2014.

The court was informed after the verdict that Ward, of Wallasey, Liverpool, had previously been found guilty at a sheriff court of transmitting sexual communications to minors, and had received a restriction of liberty order and a community payback order in 2017.