A PERVERT who showed school children how to make models of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was today facing prison for abusing young boys more than 30 years ago.
A trial heard how the youngsters – aged between five and 14 at the time – were molested at a number of flats in Edinburgh.
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Spurned gay man retaliated with abusive lettersSome of the abuse took place at a squalid address in the Niddrie area of the city where Francis Sneddon, 70, and his gay partner were lodging with a family which included at least a dozen children.
In spite of the number living there, one bedroom had been given over to pigeon keeping. The window had been knocked out to let the birds fly in and out and there was no running water in the bathroom.
One of Sneddon's victims, now 43 years old, told how he was shown pornographic pictures there, as well as being made to perform sex acts.
Then, he said, Sneddon went back to his model making.
Sneddon, who denied the charges against him, told the High Court in Edinburgh that his hobby was making plaster cast models for a local charity, the Craigmillar Festival Society.
He said he also gave demonstrations at local schools. His favourite subjects were Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Highland pipers.
Another victim, now 45, described similar sex acts at a flat in Leith where Sneddon was living at the time.
Sneddon, now of May Court, Edinburgh, claimed his accusers had suffered sex abuse at the hands of others and, with the passage of time, had become confused and were falsely blaming him.
A jury found him guilty, by majority, of two charges of indecent behaviour dating back to 1970.
After their verdict the court heard that Sneddon had served a three-month prison sentence in 1966 for gross indecency.
Judge Roger Craik QC called for background reports and allowed Sneddon to remain on bail pending sentence next month.
Sneddon's victims had to relive their experiences for a second time.
They had already given evidence at a trial last year which had to be abandoned in its closing stages when Sneddon was taken ill.
The full article contains 399 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
