Five years jail for man who sexually abused young girls

A man who admitted sexually abusing young girls in the 1980s and 90s was imprisoned for five years at Lerwick Sheriff Court today.

Alan Scollay, 58, was also put on the sexual offenders’ register for an indefinite period and will serve a five-year period on licence when he is released from prison.

Scollay, of Grodians, Lerwick earlier pleaded guilty to acting in a lewd, indecent and libidinous manner to a girl under 16 between 1982 and 1983.

He targeted a different, younger girl with the same behavior between 1994 and 1999, at two addresses in Shetland, including forcing the child to watch adult pornographic videos.

Tommy Allan, defending, said that there was no mitigation for Scollay’s offences and that they had caused him a great deal of guilt which he had lived with for 17 years since the time of his last offence.

Mr Allan said: “He knows that he has hurt his victims really badly and he is very sorry for that.” He added that Scollay was “ashamed” by his actions.

Sheriff Philip Mann said that all of the offences were of the “utmost seriousness” and that he had considered referring the case to the High Court before deciding he had sufficient sentencing powers to deal with it locally.

Mr Mann sentenced Scollay to four years in prison for the offences committed in the 1990s with an additional year for the offence from the 1980s. The jail term was backdated to 9th December when Scollay was taken into custody.