Scout Jailed For Sexual Abuse Of Boys

A scoutmaster who spent months planning a fake camp so he could lure boys home and sexually abuse them was jailed for nine months yesterday. Assistant Scout commissioner Alan Grant plied two 15-year-old boys with drink and waited until they fell asleep before pouncing.

Grant, 42, a bachelor, had printed fake consent forms and conned trusting parents into letting him take their children to “camp”.

But there was no camp, and Grant simply took the boys back to his home and carried out serious sex attacks upon them. Sheriff Robert McCreadie told him: “This was a gross betrayal of trust in misleading the boys’ parents.”

Perth Sheriff Court heard how Grant confessed he had “sexual fantasies” about children.

Grant was one of the most senior scouts in Scotland until he resigned in the wake of the assaults. The former area assistant commissioner for scouting in Perth and Kinross has worked with hundreds of boys during more than 20 years as a volunteer with the scouting movement.

He resigned from the Scouts Association almost immediately after the incidents at his St Madoes, Perthshire, home earlier this year.

The boys were too embarrassed to report the attacks to police, but scout chiefs launched an investigation into Grant’s sudden resignation.

It then emerged that he had hatched a plot to lure the boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to his home for his sexual gratification.

The court heard how Grant spent months lying to parents about an upcoming scout camp he wanted their sons to attend.

He went to the trouble of preparing fake permission slips and convinced the unsuspecting parents to sign them so the boys could stay away overnight.

Grant admitted two charges of sexually abusing 15-year-old boys at his home on 18 or 19 March. He admitted supplying the boys with alcohol.

He also admitted making up a story about a Scout camp and fooling parents into signing fake consent forms during the first three months of this year.

Grant worked as an accountant for the property company, Bidwells, but has since left the firm. His details have been added to the sex offenders register for ten years.

Jim Duffy, chief executive of the Scout Association (Scotland), said: “Any incidence of abuse of a position of trust by any adult is of grave concern to us all. The Scout Association carries out stringent vetting of all volunteers who work with young people.”