PERVERT PROFESSOR WHO ASSAULTED EIGHT STUDENTS AT SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES DODGES JAIL Former Strathclyde Uni lecturer Kevin O’Gorman has been described as a “monster” by one of his victims.

September 26, 2019
Alan McEwen
Daily Record

 

A pervert university lecturer convicted of sexually assaulting eight male students has been branded a “monster” by one victim.

Kevin O’Gorman, 46, was sentenced to community service and given a tagging order on Thursday after appearing in court.

The disgraced academic preyed on students while working at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt universities between 2006 and 2014.

One victim told how O’Gorman ordered him to remove his trousers and bend over a bed. He said he’d then been whipped at least 10 times, which left O’Gorman “out of breath and red-faced”.

O’Gorman, of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire , was convicted of 14 charges following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

On Thursday he was given 240 hours of community service, three years’ supervision, and put on an electronic tag to prevent him leaving home between 7pm and 7am for six months.

Victim Fraser Blevins , 32, who waived his right to anonymity, said: “That man is nothing short of a monster who preyed on innocent people but at the same time I can look at him and see him as nothing but weak and pathetic.

“I was only 17 when he groomed and abused me and others for his own sick gratification.

“I am disappointed it wasn’t a custodial sentence.

“It’s difficult to imagine that man being free in the comfort of his own home.

“I hope the community service at least addresses his ego as he has never appeared to show any remorse.”

Fraser and other students have consulted lawyers to sue Strathclyde University for alleged failings in handling the case.

The married dad-of-two said: “For me, it’s too late for Strathclyde University to say sorry – that would be nothing more than a PR move for them.

“Strathclyde had the chance to deal with things at the time but instead they swept it under the carpet and let O’Gorman move to another uni and gave him a huge pay-off.

“Strathclyde is just as guilty as O’Gorman for turning a blind eye.”

Fraser called for an internal review being carried out at the uni to be made public.

Kim Leslie, a specialist abuse lawyer at Digby Brown Solicitors who is investigating Strathclyde University ’s role in the case, praised Fraser and the other survivors.

She said: “Now the criminal proceedings are concluded we are investigating the role of the university in this disgusting campaign of abuse which affected potentially dozens of young adults, but as enquiries are at an early stage it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The trial heard how O’Gorman made a victim stand in a corner and beat himself on the bottom with a wooden spoon.

He persuaded another student to take off his trousers on a Skype video call as “punishment” for not working hard enough.

Yesterday Sheriff Alistair Noble said O’Gorman had “sought to gratify your own sexual interests” while helping students with courses.

Advocate Niall McCluskey, QC, defending, said his client was “someone who has made a major contribution in his academic field and has now lost the career that he loved”.

O’Gorman was suspended from Strathclyde in 2011 after a male student made an abuse allegation to a uni chief.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal and vice-chancellor at Strathclyde, said: “As a university community, we are shocked and appalled by what emerged from the trial, and by behaviours which are totally contrary to our shared values.

“There are questions we must ask about our processes and procedures.”

Prof McDonald said the uni’s internal review sought to “establish what we knew at the time, what we ought to have known, and what should have been in place to expose such wrongdoing”.

Ann Marie Dalton-Pillay, secretary of Heriot-Watt University, said: “It is clear Kevin O’Gorman betrayed the trust of everyone at this University and abused his position.”

Heriot-Watt is conducting its own internal review “in the pursuit of more stringent processes that protect and support” its students and staff.

O’Gorman - previously director of Heriot-Watt’s school of management and languages - declined to comment.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/pervert-professor-who-assaulted-eight-20265683

 

 

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