A CHILD rapist has been jailed for nine years for sex crimes committed more than three decades ago.

Ronald Smith, 71, sexually assaulted a boy and raped a girl three times in the 1970s in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

Smith, of Dunearn Drive, Kirkcaldy, had denied charges of sexual assault, rape and assault with intent to rape but was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of four offences.

Defence counsel Shelagh McCall said of Smith: "He is a man who has had a long-term, stable employment record and continued to be in employment until these current proceedings."