A CHILDREN'S Panel chairman sexually abused a teenage boy - moments before a meeting to decide the youngster's future.
The victim wept as he told a jury how Daniel Ross attacked him at the panel's Glasgow headquarters in the early 1990s.
The now father-of-four recalled how Ross groomed him and went on to abuse him again before vital hearings.
Ross - who was also a special police constable - had by this time already preyed on another vulnerable boy he met through the Children's Panel and attacked a third young man.
The 62-year-old escaped justice for decades until one victim said the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal brought back memories of his ordeal and he went to police.
Ross - no longer involved with the panel system - denied the allegations at the High Court in Glasgow.
But, he was found of guilty of six sex charges after a week-long trial.
Ross showed no emotion as he was remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.
Ross abused his senior position at the Children's Panel to prey on a teenage boy at the offices in the city's Albion Street in the 1990s.
The witness recalled how he had been in care since the age of 11 and was later expelled from school in second year.
He ended up before the Children's Panel due to his problems at the time.
The victim - now aged 38 - remembered Ross being in charge of meetings to discuss his future at the time.
He said: "At the start, I thought Mr Ross was quite a nice person."
But, the witness said that changed shortly before a hearing when he was around 14.
He recalled: "The first time, when I think back, it was like a grooming session. I was in a room and he put his hand on my lap.
"This was in the room just off where the panel was to be."
As Ross continued to molest the youngster, he told him that "because of his position" he would "deny" what happened.
The witness remembered being terrified at the time.
He said Ross then simply went on that day to chair the teenager's hearing.
But, the abuse carried on - again before meeting at Albion Street.
The victim broke down giving evidence as he remembered a time burly Ross forcing himself upon him.
He told the trial: "I was frightened of Mr Ross as he knew what home or wherever I was in. I was upset."
Ross had already earlier abused another young boy between 1985 and 1988.
He also met this victim through the Children's Panel. Ross then got him a job at a cafe he ran - giving him access to prey on the troubled youngster.
The victim said he was around 13 when the attacks began and that it became a "regular thing".
The abuse occurred at the cafe in Glasgow's Mount Florida and at a flat in the city's Kinning Park.
The witness - now 42 - said: "I felt as if I had no choice. It was just through fear and threats...the fear of being put into a kids home.
"I was told that I was going to a home because I was having to go to the Children's Panel.
"It was always under that threat...he said that he could stop that happening."
Police initially investigated Ross in 2001, but no charges were brought.
However, in 2012, the victim Ross abused at the cafe again spoke with detectives.
He told the jury: "The Jimmy Savile thing started up and brought everything flooding back."
It sparked a fresh probe into the allegations and Ross was first brought to court in late 2013.
He was charged at that time along with 55 year-old Donald Finlayson, who later died before standing trial
First offender Ross, now of Oldham, Lancashire, was remanded in custody as sentencing was deferred for reports.
Judge Lord Matthews told the jury after the verdicts that the trial had "not been a pleasant case by any means".
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