https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/john-watt-lawyer-sexual-abuse-27405821
Former top Scots lawyer convicted of historical sex abuse against four children
John Watt QC was hauled back to Scotland from America to face justice after preying on three girls and a boy over 14 years in the 1970s and '80s
ByConnor Gordon
Grant McCabe
17:26, 5 JUL 2022
A former senior Scots lawyer has been convicted of historical sex abuse against four children.
John Watt QC was hauled back to Scotland from America to face justice after preying on three girls and a boy over 14 years in the 1970s and 80s. A number of the victims had relatives who were also legal figures at the time.
The attacks happened at different properties in Edinburgh's New Town and Leith, as well as another in the West End of the capital. Watt, now 72, was extradited in 2020 from Oklahoma in the United States, having moved there in the mid-90s with his wife.
He denied the crimes during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow pinning the blame on a now dead lawyer for attacks on one girl. But, Watt was today found guilty of a total of five charges spanning between 1973 and 1987.
He was convicted of raping one girl. Watt was further guilty of lewd and libidinous behaviour against the same victim, another girl and a boy. He was also guilty of indecently assaulting a third girl.
The shamed former advocate showed no emotion as he was remanded in custody pending sentencing next month. Watt often worked and mingled with a number of leading names in the Scottish legal world at the time.
The female rape victim told how her father - who was also a lawyer - took her to see Watt at a house in Edinburgh. Prosecutors said she was aged seven when the abuse began.
She recalled being given an "instruction" by her dad before being left alone with Watt. Prosecutor Kath Harper asked what then happened. The now 55 year-old replied: "I did things to the man which he made me do."
She told jurors how she was raped on two occasions and Watt told her she was a "good girl". Watt's legal team had lodged a special defence incriminating another lawyer for the crimes against this victim.
But, shown a photo of this man, the woman insisted he was not the person who attacked her. Two sisters - now in their 50s - told the trial how their lawyer father often hosted gathering at their home where Watt and others would turn up.
One recalled being in bed during a social event there and woke up to find Watt at her bedside. She said: “I think he said something about being cold or tired… and got into my bed."
This victim said she was facing away from the door when Watt inappropriately touched her. The witness added: “I have a lawyer in [my] bed, but you think something is happening which is not right.”
Her sister had saw Watt in the bed for around 10 minutes. She remembered being "frightened" and moved to turn away. But, the preying advocate then turned on her putting his hand under her bed clothes.
The woman sobbed as she described being molested for "what felt like 10 minutes." She claimed that she did not tell her parents what happened to her the next morning despite her sister speaking to them about her attack.
Jurors were read a statement from their dad, who has since passed away. He said he had reported Watt to a senior lawyer, who later became a high court judge, instead of police at the time.
Jurors were also read an undated letter from Watt to the sisters' dad in which he "apologised unreservedly…for any distress caused." Watt's final victim told how he was aged 10 when the advocate had been asked to look after him while his parents were away.
But, the now 45 year-old told Miss Harper: "I was raped by John Watt. I remember him coming in the room and I remember him telling me to turn over."
Asked how long the attack lasted, the witness replied: "Honestly, I do not know. I have played it over in my mind 100,000 times. I know it was something I did not want."
After the abuse, Watt gave up law in Scotland and set up a new life in Oklahoma in 1995, working at his wife's real estate agency.