A disgraced former Paisley teacher has been found guilty of historic child sex abuse spanning more than twenty years.
Twisted Kenneth Divers was found guilty of sexually abusing boys as young as 11 from 1968 to 1992 at various locations including St Aelred’s Secondary in Gleniffer Road, Hampden Park and at multiple addresses in Paisley.
The jury of eight men and seven women took just over an hour to find the 78-year-old guilty of all five charges by unanimous decision.
Sheriff Brian Mohan slammed the beast as a “sexual predator” stating it would “be appropriate” for him to spend a “lengthy time in custody.”
Sheriff Mohan stated: “Behind the façade of being a caring teacher, you were a sexual predator and you preyed on young boys at your school.
“The common theme is you ruined the innocence of one young boy after another.”
During the trial at Paisley Sheriff Court, a former St Aelred’s pupil told the jury how he has made multiple attempts to take his own life after he was subjected to child sex abuse from his teacher.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed he walked out in front of a car following sexual abuse by Divers who was his teacher and footie coach at a Scotland v England match.
The now 66-year-old said he took the drastic step aged 13 after attending the Hampden Park clash with ‘Kenny Divers.’
He told Paisley Sheriff Court it came after an “aroused” Divers had pressed up against him in the packed stadium in the late 1960s.
The witness said: “I was up against a barrier and I could feel him pressing up against me.
“He was very close to me rubbing his erection against me.
“He had planned a trip to Spain for four of the boys and I was one of them and during that game, I had in my head [that] I didn’t want to go to Spain.
“As we left Hampden and were walking to the train station, a car came round the corner and I stepped out in front of it.
“I didn’t want to go to Spain. I wasn’t able to tell my parents I didn’t want to go.”
Procurator fiscal depute, Dana Barclay asked if the man was injured during the incident and he told the jury how he suffered a broken femur.
Ms Barclay asked: “How has all of this affected you?”
Weeping in the witness stand, the man replied: “I’ve had two attempts at my life since walking in front of the car, I lost my family, my house, I got into debt because I couldn’t work, I suffered depression.
“It’s taken 50-odd years of my life. I never told anyone for 40 years.”
A 64-year-old man also gave evidence stating Divers who was like an “uncle figure” was the school’s football coach and he would take him to music concerts and football matches.
He also gave evidence claiming Divers sexually assaulted him on various occasions at Diver’s home in Mannering Way, Paisley between 1971 and 1975, when he attended for math tuition and at a friend’s property in Largs, Ayrshire after they had looked at pornographic magazines together.
A serving police officer also told the court of his “embarrassment and shame” at having to stand “naked” in front of his teacher.
The officer said he was twice “naked and alone” with Divers as a teen pupil in the 1990s.
The 43-year-old claimed Divers acted in a sexually inappropriate way towards him when he was a school boy.
The officer told the jury he was “frozen to the ground” when Divers – who was also his football coach, made him “drop” his towel when he was a first year pupil in 1991.
The man said a “similar incident” happened the following year in 1992 when he was 12-years-old.
A 49-year-old man also stated he was also sexually abused by Divers at St Aelred’s school.
The witness said Divers inappropriately touched him at the school when he was just 12-years-old.
The man said Divers taught the teen one-to-one football coaching in the gym hall and afterwards would “make him” take a shower where Divers would join him and touch him sexually.
Divers would then molest him in a shower room. He said he felt “sick and numb” and stopped going to school when he was only in second year due to the attacks.
Giving his own evidence, Divers claimed that the four men were telling “lies.”
Cross-examining Divers, prosecutor Dana Barclay asked: “Are the jury to believe that four grown men have come to court and told lies under oath for no reason?”
He replied: “I suppose I have to say that.”
Sheriff Brian Mohan deferred sentencing for the preparation of reports.
Divers was remanded in custody meantime and will return to court next month for sentencing.
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