A CONVICTED Clackmannan paedophile has been convicted of groping a teenager as she rode the bus to school.

The case against James Landsborough went to trial on Monday this week, with the jury retiring to consider their verdict yesterday.

On various occasions between June 1 and August 28 last year, on a bus travelling through Clackmannanshire, he did repeatedly place his hand on the teenager’s thigh, squeeze her thigh and grab her thigh.

The young woman described his behaviour as “out of control”, noting an escalation in his conduct as time went on.

He was initially charged with sexual assault, but the jury found him guilty of an alternative offence: engaging in sexual activity with an older child.

After the verdict was rendered, Sheriff William Gilchrist released Landsborough on bail but banned him from riding on public transport and from having any unsupervised contact with a child.

During the trial the court heard evidence from the complainer, who spoke from behind a screen.

When pressed for details by prosecutor Cheryl Clark, the girl said: “I started seeing him at the bus stop probably about April last year.

“After seeing him a few times he told me his name because I talked to him in general conversation.”

On one occasion the accused mentioned he did not have a wife, and asked the girl’s age – to which she replied 15.

She continued: “When I first met him he would sit at the front of the bus and I would sit at the back.

But one time he asked if he could sit next to me and after that he just sat next to me every time.”

It was during these occasions that the Landsborough started touching her.

The complainer added: “He started just, like, tapping my leg before he left to get off the bus.

“Just, like, as he was getting off, he would tap my thigh, just as he was saying goodbye.”

The girl claimed the thigh tap happened on around five occasions, before developing into more concerning behaviour.

She told the court: “It became a slap and then a grab – a tap, but harder. It was just more aggressive because at first it was quite gentle.”

The teenager also said the accused had asked her to go on a walk with him and had invited her into his home for a cup of tea – offers she declined on both occasions.

Despite feeling uncomfortable with his conduct, she said she “didn’t know what to do” to get him to stop because she thought he was just being nice. As a result, she did not tell her parents.

However, on the final occasion, on August 28 last year, Landsborough grabbed the girl’s upper thigh for around five to ten seconds before getting off the bus, leaving her visibly upset.

Another person witnessed this and spoke to her, before the incident was then reported to police.

When asked how she felt about the man’s conduct, she said it was getting “out of control”.

Landsborough’s lawyer urged the jury to acquit him on the basis that there was no sexual element to the touching, and that the complainer had not asked him to stop.

However, after around 90 minutes of deliberations the jury found him guilty of the alternative charge of engaging in sexual activity with a child aged 12-15.

The Crown then tendered a schedule of previous convictions which revealed that Landsborough was a convicted sex offender, having abused a child in the past.

In 2006, he was jailed for seven years for carrying out lewd, indecent or libidinous practices with a child.

Sheriff Gilchrist then released him on bail, on the condition that he does not ride public transport or have any contact with a child.

The matter was then adjourned for background reports, with a sentencing diet set down for next month.