An Aberdeen paedophile who was jailed for eight years for abusing five boys and girls has died just months into his prison sentence.
Michael Taylor, 71, molested and sexually assaulted five boys and girls after plying them with sweets and money.
He raped a boy and filmed it, before instructing another victim to video him carrying out sex acts on a girl.
Taylor who was jailed for eight years in March had told police he carried out the offences because he was lonely and insisted he never forced the children and “if anything, they liked it”.
FAI will be held in ‘due course’
A statement from the Scottish Prison Service said: “Michael Taylor, 71, a prisoner from HMP Glenochil has died on August 23, 2021.
“He was convicted at Edinburgh High Court in 2021.
“Police Scotland have been advised and the matter reported to the Procurator Fiscal. A Fatal Accident Inquiry will be held in due course.”
At Taylor’s sentencing hearing Judge Lady Scott said he had perpetrated “abhorrent and serious” crimes against children over a six-month period last year.
A background report suggested Taylor is at high risk of further sexual offending.
Impact of offences on victims ‘profound’
Jailing him for eight years at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lady Scott said: “The effect of your conduct on these children and their families has been profound.
“I am satisfied you present a serious risk of harm to children.”
Taylor, formerly of Garthdee, Aberdeen, previously admitted five charges of sexually assaulting children aged six and 11 in Aberdeen between March and September last year.
He also admitted taking indecent photographs of children.
The court heard he was arrested after a boy told his father he thought Taylor might be a paedophile and said he had put his hands under his clothes. He said Taylor told him not to tell his parents and had given him money for sweets.
Police found a number of devices at Taylor’s home and an examination of his phone revealed images and videos of children.
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