A FORMER Church of Scotland minister who carried out sexual offences
against young boys at two of his manses over a three-year period was
jailed for seven years yesterday.
William Clement Robb, 54, known as Clem Robb, was described as
unworthy of the cloth he wore as he was sentenced by Lord Osborne at the
High Court in Glasgow.
Some of Robb's victims were in court -- one appeared close to tears,
and another waved as Robb was led to the cells below.
The court heard that the former minister had plied the boys, aged
between 10 and 17, with alcohol, and engaged in sex acts with as many as
three at a time. He had made them draw lots, had had them pose for
photographs, and had shown them pornographic magazines and films.
Two of the victims had been so badly affected that one still suffered
from nightmares 13 years later and the other, who found difficulty in
forming any relationship with a woman, was addicted to drink and drugs.
When police confronted Robb with the allegations he had told a
detective inspector: ''I have done nothing wrong morally; perhaps in
law,'' the court heard.
The detective had told him that he had broken the law with regard to
the age of his victims, and Robb had said: ''It all depends where you
draw the base line. I would describe myself more in tone with the laws
of Holland.''
Robb, who resigned after 25 years as a minister when he was arrested,
yesterday admitted nine charges of sexual offences involving seven boys
over a three-year period.
The court heard the offences had taken place at Robb's manses at
Pollokshields, Glasgow, and Tarbert, Loch Fyne, between 1981 and 1984.
Mr James Scott, prosecuting, said that Robb had begun his career in
the Merchant Navy as a navigator. In 1968 he had become a minister and
had served for two years in Shetland.
He had then become senior chaplain to the British Sailors Society and
a chaplain to a unit of Sea Cadets in East Kilbride where he had met
many of his victims.
Robb had also been a minister in Pollokshields, Tarbert, and Catrine,
Mauchline and Dalry in Ayrshire.
The offences came to light after one of his victims, now 27, told his
girlfriend about the nightmares he suffered because of what Robb had
done to him.
Police were brought in and when he was confronted at his manse at
Dalry, Robb had said: ''I think I know what you are talking about.''
Mr Scott said that in later interviews Robb had admitted he had been
completely wrong in what he had done.
When police had asked to search the house, Robb had told them they
would find what they were looking for in a chest. Inside it had been
pornographic books, videos, and magazines.
When asked about photographs, Robb had at first stayed silent but had
then taken police to a drawer in his bedroom where they had found
scrapbooks containing photo
graphs showing his victims in various sexual poses.
He had then told police: ''This is the end.''
He had been allowed to perform a funeral service, his last act as a
minister, before returning to the police to be taken into custody.
Mr Scott said that the boys had been attracted to visit Robb because
of his collections of model ships and trains, the money, drink and
cigarettes he gave them, and because they had been allowed free run of
his house.
Mr Paul McBride, defending, said Robb's life was now ruined because of
what he had done. From being a well-respected member of the community he
was now vilified and abused by people in the streets and as a result was
depressed and suicidal.
After the death of his mother in 1980 Robb had become desperately
lonely and his initial involvement with boys had been innocent because
he had craved their company.
Mr McBride continued: ''Now he has brought shame on himself, his
family and his Church.''
Robb had been well-liked and popular, Mr McBride added, and despite
what he had done had received testimonials from members of his
congregations, fellow ministers, neighbours, and even one from a victim.
Mr McBride said that this man, now aged 27, had been Robb's homosexual
lover for 12 years. Since committing himself to that relationship Robb
had not been involved with boys and psychiatrists believed he was not
likely to offend in this way again.
Lord Osborne told Robb he had defied the law in pursuit of his own
gratification. His activities had not been a single lapse but had
continued over years.
By making drink available to the youths, he had shown premeditation
and a callous disregard for the welfare of the youngsters.
Lord Osborne continued: ''I cannot ignore the fact that in two cases
the experience of the young people concerned had lasting and damaging
effects.''
He concluded: ''You were in a position of trust where moral leadership
should have been displayed. You have breached that trust and you have
shown yourself unworthy of the cloth which you wore.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article