A Highland pub manager who plied teenage boys with alcohol and cigarettes and then sexually assaulted them has been jailed for 18 months.
Alan Nimmons was the boss of the Railway Hotel in Tain when he targeted four young victims over a 10-year period.
Two of the boys today hit out at the sentence, calling it a “slap on the wrist” and branding him a “monster”.
Nimmons, of Manse Street, Tain, appeared for sentencing before Sheriff Sara Matheson at Inverness Sheriff Court.
She told him: “These offences represent a serious case of predatory sexual conduct spanning a period of 10 years.”
As well as jailing him for 18 months, he was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
The 38-year-old was previously found guilty of two counts of indecent assault, one with a child under 16, and two counts of sexual assault after a trial.
The publican – who left his employment at the Railway Hotel four years ago – committed the offences between 2008 and 2018.
One victim, now 30, who was indecently assaulted sometime between August 25 and September 8 2008, said he still has nightmares about what was done to him 14 years ago.
Nimmons repeatedly attempted to grope him over his clothing before forcing open his jeans and performing a sex act on him.
He said: “He gets 18 months while I have to sit here with severe mental health issues about what’s happened?
“I have nightmares about what that monster did to me.
“I feel like I have been let down by the justice system and people like him get a slap on the wrist.
“I’m angry because I feel like the justice wasn’t enough for his offence.
“I’ve lived in mental torture for 14 years but to what end?”
Three more victims
Between May and December 2008 Nimmons also indecently assaulted a boy under the age of 16 by seizing hold of him and pulling him close.
And between May and August 2013 he sexually assaulted another victim by carrying out a sex act on him.
A fourth victim, who was sexually assaulted by Nimmons in the summer of 2018 when he was 16, said the publican groomed him from a young age and hit out at the sentence.
The court heard that Nimmons preyed on the teen at the Tain hotel and forced him to perform sex acts.
The victim, who is now 20, said: “I feel sick at the sentence that he was given.
“For years I’ve suffered due to what he put me through. He groomed me from a young age, by buying me cigarettes, drink and giving me money to make me think he was cool.
“He was preying on me the whole time.
“The justice system is unfair. His victims have had years of waiting for today to come and he was handed a slap on the wrist.”
His parents also spoke out in the wake of the case, saying: “The sentencing he was given makes us sick.”
‘He groomed our babies’
The couple said: “How can he abuse young boys for years and only get 18 months in jail?
“What he put our boys through is beyond sickening. He groomed our babies. He made them think he was cool. Giving them fags and drink.
“He was preying on them – a monster preying on his next victim. It makes you wonder how many others are out there who were his prey.
“He has given our boys a life sentence and he gets 18 months. How is that fair? He has shown no remorse, still to this day denying what he has done.”
The couple added: “We are so proud of our boy for stepping forward and then others followed in his steps. This makes us forever proud.
“Please if anyone is a victim of this man or any other person please step up. Do not hide and feel ashamed or you’re to blame, you’re not. You’re brave, you’re strong.”
