A 38-year-old man guilty of sexually assaulting three children including a baby has today been sentenced at Edinburgh High Court.
Stuart Young was handed an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) after carrying out a series of sexual abuse between November 2008 and December 2013, at various locations in the Capital.
He was arrested and charged in January 2014 after two of his victims disclosed what had happened to them.
A jury later found him guilty of various sexual offences on Thursday, April 30.
He won’t be eligible for parole until 2023.
Detective Chief Inspector Alwyn Bell said: “Stuart Young carried out a catalogue of serious sexual offences against children over a number of years but thanks to the bravery of the two girls who came forward we have ensured he has been brought to justice.
“Young deliberately targeted his victims in order to satisfy his own depraved needs over a sustained period of time and I hope today’s sentencing provides some sense of closure to the victims.
“We will continue to work alongside our colleagues from the NHS, the social work department and the voluntary sector to ensure the victims receive all the specialist assistance and support at the earliest opportunity to aid longer-term recovery.
“Crimes of a sexual nature are among the most serious incidents reported to police and it goes without saying that we treat every complaint with the utmost professionalism.
“Sexual offences have a long term devastating affect and we do everything we can to support the victims regardless of when they happened.
“Although such incidents are rare we take a zero tolerance approach towards those responsible and do everything we can to ensure that they are swiftly brought to justice.
“Anyone who wants to report a crime to police can do so by calling the 101 non-emergency number or speak to any officer.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
