October 2003 Man jailed for sex offences A 66-year-old man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to a series of sex offences against a mother and her two young daughters. William James McCausland, of McFarland Terrace in Beragh, near Omagh, pleaded guilty to a total of 15 charges. The former van driver faced eight counts of indecent assault against the woman and her daughters, and seven counts of gross indecency against the children. The victims are not related to McCausland, but he was a family friend. The offences happened at their home in the Cookstown area between 1985 and 1988. The children were aged about seven and nine at the time. The court heard McCausland would call at the house as often as three times a week, sometimes bringing sweets for the children. They have since gone on to become succesful professionals, the court was told. On his release, McCausland, who is registered disabled with severe asthma, will be placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years. He escaped a possible maximum ten-year prison term because the offences were committed before 1989, when tougher sentences were introduced.