THREE more men may face charges in connection with the worst paedophile ring ever uncovered in Edinburgh.
Two men and a woman are facing jail after being convicted of being part of a group of up to 15 adults who carried out horrific attacks on two young sisters.
But police revealed today they had identified three more men, aged between 40 and 65, whom they believe were part of the network. Details of the evidence against them have been passed to the procurator fiscal, who is considering possible charges.
Detectives in the force's sex crimes unit - who helped uncover the paedophile ring ten years after the girls' ordeal ended - today described the case as "the worst they had ever seen".
Yesterday, 50-year-old Morris Petch was found guilty of repeatedly raping both girls when they were about ten years old. He was convicted following a three-day trial at the city's High Court where he had denied taking part in the abuse.
Caroline Dunsmore, 43, and John O'Flaherty, 50, had earlier admitted their part in the abuse and Dunsmore gave evidence against her former friend. Another three men and a woman suspected of involvement died before their activities came to light.
The group of friends, up to 15-strong, systematically raped and molested the girls over the course of 12 years up to 1997, starting when one of them was just six.
DENIAL: Morris Petch flatly refused to admit his part in the attacks, but he was convicted by the jury. Picture: JULIE BULL
The older victim said today: "Me and my sister have been subjected to horrific and sadistic physical and sexual abuse by the King family and others in the Pilton area. This was a paedophile ring. Let this be a warning to others that have been named as part of this. Justice will prevail."
Detective Sergeant Callum Lamond, who led the two-and-a-half long investigation, said the victims - now 25 and 26 - were "delighted" the first convictions had been secured. They now hoped charges would be brought against the other suspected abusers in the wake of yesterday's successful outcome, he said.
Both victims had to give evidence in court against Petch this week after he maintained his innocence. The two girls were forced to take part in sexual orgies involving Dunsmore, Petch and O'Flaherty at homes in north Edinburgh.
The older of the two was repeatedly blindfolded, tied to a bed or forced to watch adults having group sex during a series of horrific attacks. She was then abused herself. In one incident, her younger sister told how she was sexually assaulted by five men the day before her 16th birthday.
The children never revealed the terrible secret, brainwashed instead into believing their ordeal was part of normal life.
The abuse only came to light after 69-year-old William Dunsmore, the father of Caroline Dunsmore, broke down in front of a family friend and admitted abusing one of the girls. The stunned friend immediately contacted the police, who started an investigation which first led to William Dunsmore being charged with raping one of the girls.
He was jailed for five years last year.
But as detectives from the force's Amethyst squad started to question potential witnesses, they began to suspect something much worse had been going on. The investigators pieced together a "horrific tale" of abuse involving more than a dozen more men and women. During eight months of interviews with the victims, they built up a picture of an extensive paedophile ring operating in the Capital.
Caroline Dunsmore, of Nichollfield, Newhaven, pleaded guilty to five offences of being involved in the rape of the oldest child, molesting her, and having sex with various men in front of the girl.
Petch, of Oxgangs Farm Gardens, was convicted of raping both sisters and forcing them to commit indecent acts with each other while he watched. O'Flaherty, of Ferry Road, pleaded guilty to charges which included the multiple rape of one of the girls.
DS Lamond and his four-strong team arrested the trio after completing a series of painstaking interviews with the victims.
Other potential victims were questioned as part of the police inquiry, but the investigation centred on the two young sisters.
DS Lamond said: "All three have never shown any signs of remorse to this day. When interviewed they disclosed the details so matter-of-factly. O'Flaherty, in particular, spoke about it as if were completely normal.
"I don't think they ever expected to be charged. It was the last thing they thought would happen after all this time. But Petch was in denial. He wanted to blame everyone else and that's why he pleaded not guilty. He couldn't admit it."
The officers believe the paedophile ring was originally masterminded by the late Billy King, described as an "Arthur Daley" character who was Dunsmore's second husband. Between June 1985 and December 1995, the husband and wife molested the older sister regularly from the age of six.
Twenty stone King, who once ran an ice cream van selling sweets to children in the city, was friends with Petch and O'Flaherty and they worked together selling catalogue goods door-to-door. Soon the pair were drawn into the warped private life of King and his wife. DS Lamond said: "O'Flaherty and Petch were friends of King's. They're not very intelligent individuals and they kind of latched on to him. King was a controller, a dominant person. He presented these children to them on a plate and they were seduced.
"The abuse took place in private houses. There were no drugs or alcohol involved. This was purely for their own sexual gratification. We've asked how it all came about, how it started; how the subject could be raised between them. But they've not been able to answer that. They say it just happened."
The paedophile ring is also said to have included King's parents, Peter and Mary King, who have also died. Along with their son, they indulged in group sex in front of the older girl, while she was aged between six and 11. The girl was also forced to commit indecent acts with them.
SICK: Caroline Dunsmore took part in group sex. Picture: TONY MARSH
They were an insular group who seemed to shun social contact, but were drawn together by their depravity, meeting at their homes in Muirhouse Green, Wardieburn Road and other addresses. More abuse took place at Abernethy Caravan Park in Perthshire.
Petch, a father of one grown up daughter, was described by police as "highly antisocial". Today, he uses a walking stick and has an artificial limb, after his leg was amputated after he fell from a window around five years ago. He was previously jailed for 30 months in 1986 after being found guilty of a sex attack. In a special defence read to the jury this week, Petch blamed King and his own late father, Larry Petch, for anything which may have happened.
Dunsmore was described as "vulnerable and easily manipulated" but she willingly took part in the abuse. She told police her father abused her as a child while her first husband, whom she married at 18, was another convicted paedophile, Tam Fowley, her former babysitter.
She married King, who was almost 20 years her senior, when she was 22.
DS Lamond said: "The abuse seemed to stop when Billy King died of cancer. It was him who brought them all together and when he was gone they drifted apart.
"It's fair to say that, considering what they've been through, the women have dealt with it well. They now lead fairly normal lives. They were looking forward to having this all come out in court.
"It was a huge step for them to break their silence to us. They hadn't even spoken to each other about it. The girls never made disclosures to social workers and they were never involved with the social work department. In the main, the people involved were not known to police.
"It seems no-one had a reason to suspect there was something wrong. The girls thought what was happening to them was normal. They thought it happened to all children. They had never known anything different. They never told their friends and attended the local schools."
Seasoned officers were left sickened as they coaxed the harrowing story from the traumatised victims. Detective Constable Angela Edmunds, who was also part of the large investigation team, said: "This was a very challenging case and very difficult to work on.
"It was difficult for the girls to discuss it. The information came out in little bits during interviews over eight months. It was a matter of building up their confidence and creating a rapport with them so they could tell the whole story."
'It's unimaginable what they've gone through'
JOHN O'FLAHERTY admitted he would always be a danger to children and begged to be stopped, according to a relative of the girls he abused.
The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the girls' anonymity, said he had confronted O'Flaherty after he had been charged by police. He said: "O'Flaherty told me he would always be a paedophile, he couldn't help himself. He was begging for help. I think he wants to get locked up to stop himself."
O'Flaherty, 50, is facing a jail sentence for his part in the paedophile ring which raped and abused two young sisters over 12 years. The family member added: "The victims are trying to get on with their lives but it's unimaginable what they have gone through - things no child should have to suffer for a single moment.
"That was their daily life for years on end. This has to be one of the worst paedophile cases there has ever been in Scotland. These people are sick. They tortured and abused innocent wee girls for their own enjoyment. They never deserve to be free again."
'Monitored' sex offenders in Lothian flee country
TWO sex offenders who should be monitored by Lothian and Borders Police are on the run, it has emerged. Both have fled the country, one to mainland Europe and the other to Africa.
Across Scotland, ten sex offenders have disappeared after refusing to cooperate with police, according to new figures obtained under freedom of information laws.
Details of the sex offenders cannot be released because police say it would make it harder to manage them and breach data protection legislation.
The figures were released following the conviction of registered sex offender Peter Tobin for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk.
He was on the run for a year after disappearing from his home without informing the authorities.
Nationally, Strathclyde has the highest number of sex offenders who have vanished into the community with seven, while in Fife there is one. Tayside police were unable to provide any information.
In Lothian and Borders, the two missing men are the only registered sex criminals from around 600 monitored in the force area whose location is currently a mystery.
A dedicated team of police officers is charged with keeping track of sex offenders.
Each individual is managed through co-operation by police, social workers and the housing department.
Police visits, interviews and, in some cases, surveillance work is carried out, with each person managed according to a risk assessment.
Police chiefs only publicly release details of any known offenders who are considered a "significant risk" when it over-rides any threat to personal safety.
