April 2018 Martial arts instructor jailed A martial arts instructor who sexually abused girls in West Fife has been jailed for nine years  Gary Lee Goodrum, now 38, was found guilty of eight charges of indecent assaultat the High Court in Livingston on March 15.  The offences took place between 1999 and 2007 against four girls, then aged 13 to 16, at the Gary Lee Martial Arts Academy in Dalgety Bay, as well as in the Hillend and Rosyth areas. Goodrum taught the underage girls kickboxing. The court heard how he groped them and forced them to perform indecent acts. At the High Court in Aberdeen, Goodrum has now been sentenced to nine years in prison and is registered as a sex offender for life. March 2018 Martial arts expert guilty of sexually abusing young girls A martial arts expert found guilty of grooming and sexually abusing eight teenage schoolgirls sobbed as he was led to the cells. Sexual predator Gary Lee Goodrum was convicted of carrying out a series of sleazy attacks on students of his Gary Lee Martial Arts Academy in West Fife over a 17-year period. Goodrum, 38, who taught the underage girls kickboxing, had denied groping them and forcing them to perform indecent acts. He broke down in tears as he was handcuffed and led away by security guards at the High Court in Livingston. Judge Lord Woolman added Goodrum’s name to the sex offenders’ register with immediate effect and told him his conviction would be reported to Scottish ministers. He said he was obliged to call for background reports because Goodrum was a first offender. He deferred sentence until Thursday 12 April at the High Court in Aberdeen. Asked to continue bail while reports are prepared, Lord Woolman told the accused: “Having regard to the convictions which have been returned by the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in my view the appropriate course is to remand you in custody meantime, and I shall do so.” At the end of a nine day trial, the jury returned unanimous verdicts finding Goodrum guilty of six charges and gave majority verdicts convicting him of two more. A ninth charge of indecent assault was found not proven by a majority verdict and allegations that he sexually penetrated one 15-year-old girl with nunchucks, a martial arts weapon, and performed oral sex on another, were deleted. The jury was told that Goodrum was brought to justice after a 14-year-old girl accused him last year of sexually assaulting her by backing her up against a wall and grabbing her breasts. Detectives who quizzed other former martial arts students uncovered allegations of a course of similar conduct going back to 1999. In his closing speech, advocate depute Stephen McCloy highlighted evidence of Goodrum “grooming” vulnerable young girls into committing sexual acts with him by flattering and coercing them. He cited striking similarities in the complainers’ evidence, including their involvement in martial arts; their young age, which the accused was aware of; their vulnerability; the building up of trust, and the “very similar” type of sexual conduct in each case. He said the locations where abuse had taken place were also a common factor: for example in the house at The Spinneys, Dalgety Bay, where the accused was then living, and addresses connected with his martial arts club in Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing. Goodrum, who now lives in Perth, originally denied a total of 10 charges, including rape. He was cleared of rape after the Crown withdrew the charge but found guilty today of seven counts of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and one of sexually assaulting the 14-year-old. He was acquitted of indecently assaulting one of the 15-year-olds in 1999 or 2000 after the jury returned a unanimous verdict finding the charge not proven. Goodrum, who said the allegations had completely destroyed his life and ruined his career, claimed in evidence that his alleged victims were all “lying or mistaken”. The jury rejected his evidence.