A professor who sexually abused eight male students has been spared jail.

Kevin O¡¯Gorman committed the offences while working at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt universities between 2006 and 2014. He was convicted on 14 counts, including sexual assault and sending sexually inappropriate messages, following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

At a hearing on 26 September O¡¯Gorman was sentenced to a community payback order including 240 hours of unpaid work and three years of supervision. He will be electronically tagged, under a curfew which will bar him from leaving his home in East Dunbartonshire between 7pm and 7am for six months.

The trial had heard how O¡¯Gorman ordered one student to remove his trousers and bend over a bed. O¡¯Gorman then whipped him at least 10 times. Another victim was made to stand in a corner and beat himself on the bottom with a wooden spoon, while another was made to take his trousers off during a video call as ¡°punishment¡± for not working hard enough, reported.

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Niall McCluskey, defending, urged the court to spare O¡¯Gorman jail and read several references praising him from ex-colleagues at Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt.

The references described him as a ¡°remarkable academic¡± who had a ¡°genuine concern for the pastoral care of students¡±, reported.

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O¡¯Gorman maintained that his actions did not have a sexual motive, the court heard. But Sheriff Alistair Noble told O¡¯Gorman that he had ¡°sought to gratify your own sexual interests¡± while tutoring students.

Both Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde have appointed QCs to investigate their handling of the case. The professor of management worked at Strathclyde?from 2005 until he was suspended in 2011 after a complaint was made against him. He left the following year, apparently with references and a pay-off, and no report was passed to the police.

O¡¯Gorman was suspended and subsequently dismissed by Heriot-Watt in 2017 after complaints from staff, which led to the police investigation.

Former colleagues of O¡¯Gorman at both institutions told?Times Higher Education?previously that O¡¯Gorman could have been stopped sooner, and that they?wanted the?investigations to reveal exactly what senior management knew and when.

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One of O¡¯Gorman¡¯s victims, Fraser Blevins, who has waived his right to anonymity, told local media that the professor was ¡°nothing short of a monster who preyed on innocent people¡±.

¡°I am disappointed it wasn¡¯t a custodial sentence,¡± Mr Blevins said. ¡°It¡¯s difficult to imagine that man being free in the comfort of his own home. I hope the community service at least addresses his ego as he has never appeared to show any remorse.¡±

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com