Former senior police officer jailed for propositioning girl (8) in caravan park

A former senior police officer turned paedophile has been jailed after he propositioned an eight year old girl in a caravan park.

Ordering Raymond Keith Lindsay (61) to spend half his 28 month sentence in jail and half under supervised licence conditions, Judge Neil Raffertypraised the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children run PANTS project which he said assisted "in the armouring of our children to recognise how to behave when they're put in a compromising position by an adult."

The work done by schools, teachers, parents and the NSPCC "is at the forefront of safeguarding our children going forward," said the judge at Downpatrick Crown Court adding that "the fact that this young girl recognised the scenario and dealt with it appropriately by removing herself for me, is one of the high points of this case."

At an earlier hearing Lindsay, a former RUC inspector with an address at Moygashel Park in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, entered guilty pleas to inciting a female child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and to breaching his court imposed Sexual Offences Prevention Order by communicating with a child at Castlewellan Forest Park on July 26th last year. The girl was there camping with her family.

Rehearsing the facts of the case during sentencing Judge Rafferty described how the girl had been staying at the park with her parents and was on her way back from the toilet block when Lindsay approached her and tried to engage her in conversation.

“The defendant asked her to go into the bushes and he would take his pants off and show her his willy,” the judge said, adding that thankfully, the young girl “distances herself from that and reported it to her parents.”

Previous convictions

Turning to the victim impact statement, Judge Rafferty said it was clear the victim had been “quite badly affected by the incident” while Lindsay himself had been previously convicted of similar offences and breaches of his life long Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Lindsay was first jailed in 1994 when he was handed a six year sentence for 16 sex offences including indecent assault, gross indecency and indecent exposure. He was arrested after a 70mph high-speed chase through the streets of east Belfast. A court was later told that he used his position as an RUC Inspector to target his vulnerable victims.

Lindsay would approach schoolgirls and ask them did they need help, before abusing them.

On other occasions, he would sit half-naked in his car with a pornographic magazine at his side, beckon girls over and expose himself.

While on day release from Magilligan Prison in 1996, Lindsay was convicted of assaulting a woman in Co Monaghan and stealing her clothes.

His life long SOPO, which prohibits Lindsay from entering amusement arcades and beaches, and from loitering in forest parks and caravan sites, was put in place in 2012 after he was spotted hanging around Tollymore Park in Newcastle and Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor.

Judge Rafferty made it clear on Thursday that even when he is released, Lindsay will be subject to strict licence conditions which means that any breach of them will result in him going back to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.