Inverness man guilty of assaulting two young girls
A 43-year-old Inverness man has been found guilty of indecently assaulting two young girls.
William Macdonald's victims, who are now teenagers, cheered when the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts after a two-day trial.
He denied allegations of assaulting the girls when they were aged 10 and the other was aged under 16.
The trial at Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Macdonald accused the girls of lying.
Macdonald denied lewd and libidinous practices towards one girl between 10 September 2009 and 9 September 2010.
He also denied a second charge of engaging in sexual activity with another girl aged between 13 and under 16 by touching her inappropriately between 1 January 2012 and 31 May 2012.
Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist has asked for background reports before sentencing Macdonald on 24 April.
The court heard that both his victims still required counselling. One of the girls had a nervous breakdown.
Outside the court, a mother of one of the girls said: "The jury returned the right verdict. Justice has been done. It has been very tough on all of us because the case took so long to come to court.
"He put the girls through a dreadful ordeal and again in the trial making them give evidence.
"They were so brave and strong, much stronger than us mothers."
The court heard that Macdonald was babysitting the girls when he assaulted them.