A PREDATOR from Galashiels who targeted young girls has been jailed for five years today.

Stephen Charters, who lived in Wood Street Galashiels, carried out a string of offences over 20 years, with his youngest victim just four years old.

The 51 year-old former bus driver was convicted of sex crimes between 1977 and 1997.

He started offending w hen he was 12 years old – the youngest age for prosecution in Scotland.

Charters was sentenced today at the High Court in Edinburgh on five charges of indecent behaviour and two of rape.

Judge Lady Clark of Calton told Charters: "These are very serious charges of which you have been convicted and they were committed over a very long period."

He began by molesting a young girl at a house near Melrose, exposing himself and carrying out sex acts on the child, who was just nine.

Charters then raped her two years later. 

He also abused a second girl at a house in Gorebridge and at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh before raping her.

And made inappropriate sexual remarks to a third girl in East Kilbride and during a car journey.

Lady Clark: "He is in complete denial about all of this.

"He does not seem to have any understanding or recognition of his behaviour on the victims."

Defence counsel Shelagh McCall QC told the High Court that Charters continued to deny involvement in the sex offending.

She said there was a 20 year gap since the last of the offences and had since worked as a bus driver, taking children to school. 

She said other people had been interviewed and no further allegations had made against him.