Sex abuse young musician Robin Brandon-Turner sentenced
A talented young musician who admitted sexually abusing a young girl has been placed on probation for two years.
Robin Brandon-Turner touched the girl and made her perform a sex act on him when she was aged between six and 10.
The 18-year-old, from Dunoon, Argyll, committed the offences in Rothesay between 2009 to 2013. He was caught after the victim confided in a friend.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, Brandon-Turner was ordered to attend a programme to address his behaviour.
A previous hearing at the High Court in Glasgow heard that Brandon-Turner described his offending "as experimenting when he was younger" when police interviewed him.
He later told a psychologist that his arrest had caused a sense of relief.
Passing sentence, judge Lord Lord Turnbull told Brandon-Turner that he would be required to behave and to conform to directions from a supervising officer including over attending sexual behaviour programmes.
The judge said: "It is not necessary for me to stress the serious nature of the offending to which you have pled guilty.
"The fact that these proceedings have been brought in the High Court is sufficient to underline that adequately."
Lord Turnbull said it would be clear to Brandon-Turner as "an intelligent, young man" that such behaviour normally resulted in "a lengthy custodial sentence".
The judge said that was partly because of the emotional damage which was inflicted and "to reflect society's abhorrence of such conduct".
But he said he considered it was also important that Brandon-Turner's behaviour was addressed through a programme.
The judge said there were unusual and unfortunate factors in the teenager's background that he took into account and that he has already endured "a self-imposed punitive regime".
The court heard that the teenager held ambitions to be a world class oboe player.
Defence counsel Donald MacLeod QC said Brandon-Turner had been living by himself in Argyll, leading a "rather, isolated life" and concentrating on trying to improve as a musician.
Mr MacLeod urged the judge to take an exceptional course in the case with a non-custodial disposal.