A former RAF serviceman who previously lived in Elgin has been convicted of historical child sexual abuse in the Falkland Islands.
Ryan Elstow preyed on two girls, one as young as 12 and a teenager who was aged no more than 16 at the time, during a five-year period.
The 35-year-old targeted one victim by abusing his position of trust as a ‘house parent’ responsible for the welfare of young residents of a boarding facility called Stanley House.
Now, he is locked up and serving a seven-year prison sentence after voluntarily travelling 8,000 miles to be prosecuted by the overseas British territory.
But a former friend of Elstow’s family has warned that the “manipulative” sexual predator may return to Moray, where his relatives live, once he is released.
Extradited
On April 5 last year, the Prosecution Service of the Falkland Islands asked the UK Government to extradite Elstow, who was living in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
He faced eight charges concerning sexual activity with two children and chose to return to the South Atlantic Ocean archipelago.
As police tried to interview Elstow, he presented a prepared written statement and refused to answer any questions, before he later appeared in court on August 5 2022.
The accused stood in the dock and entered guilty pleas to seven charges of sexual activity with a girl between February 28 2010 and July 30 2013.
During that time, she was aged 12 to 15 years old while Elstow was between 23 and 26.
Crown Counsel Stuart Walker – the prosecutor – told the Magistrate’s Court of the Falkland Islands that Elstow had a “devastating” impact on his first victim who he told to keep quiet about his grooming behaviour.
And Mr Walker said she still suffers “significant mental health issues” to this day, as a result of the ordeal.
Breach of a position of trust
Elstow pled not guilty to an eighth charge of sexual activity with another child, in breach of a position of trust, on a date between May 5 2014 and May 1 2015.
However, on November 25 last year, the sex offender was found guilty of touching the second victim, a Stanley House resident who was 15 or 16 years old, when the paedophile worked there at the age of 27 or 28.
His Honour Judge Malcolm Simmons found the young woman had been “truthful and reliable” when giving evidence on video and on the witness stand.
During the two-day trial, Elstow gave evidence in his own defence but both he and the second victim gave “two starkly different versions of events”, the Senior Magistrate said.
He found the former Stanley House resident to be “an honest witness, struggling to come to terms with what had happened” and said that her evidence “did not seem rehearsed”.
‘Rank indifference to the suffering of others’
Elstow’s defence lawyer James Ross admitted that his client’s conduct had shown “rank indifference to the suffering of others”.
But he urged the judge to consider Elstow’s willingness to voluntarily attend court without the need for extradition and plead guilty to most of the charges at the earliest opportunity.
Mr Ross also told the court that his client, a former member of the RAF Regiment who served in Afghanistan, had been traumatised by seeing his best friend killed by a bomb.
Judge Simmons sentenced Elstow on January 11 when he handed the 35-year-old a seven-year jail term.
He told Elstow: “I have increased the starting point for each offence owing to the aggravating features present in each offence.
“I reduce that starting point accordingly, having taken your mitigation and guilty pleas into account where necessary.
“Mr Elstow, the starting point on count two after trial would have been one of five years six months. I reduce that to one of 44 months.
“Counts one, three and four, I reduce from two years to 16 months concurrent and counts five, six and seven I reduce a sentence of nine years and six months to one of six years and three months imprisonment concurrent.
“On count eight, the sentence is one of nine months imprisonment consecutive. The sentence I impose is seven years imprisonment.”
Likely to be deported
The Senior Magistrate did not impose any further conditions on Elstow.
He explained: “I am not making a compensation order nor costs order because of the immediate prison sentence.
“The prosecution have not asked for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SOPO) and I do not consider it necessary or appropriate to impose one in the circumstances.
“You will be subject to the notification requirements with the police for the rest of your life.
“You must keep the police informed at all times of your personal particulars, the address at which you are living, and any alteration in the name you are using.”
Elstow will have to serve a minimum of two-thirds of his custodial sentence at HM Prison Stanley, part of the Royal Falkland Islands Police headquarters building.
But once the convicted paedophile has been behind bars for around four and a half years, he’ll be eligible for release on the condition that he follows a set of rules.
A justice official has confirmed that Elstow, who is not a resident of the Falkland Islands, is “likely” to be deported back to Britain in 2027 – if he behaves himself.
But a former friend of Elstow’s family said he’s “terrified” that the prisoner will return to the north-east of Scotland.
‘Manipulative and controlling’
He said: “When all this came to light, I was shocked but I also wasn’t shocked. There was always something odd with Elstow that no one could put their finger on.
“He’s always had a very controlling and manipulative way about him.
“My fear is that he can come back here to the UK and nobody would be any the wiser. He’ll live as if nothing has ever happened.
“I firmly believe that when he is released, he will relocate to Elgin where he’s got family.
“If he does relocate to Elgin, my fear is that he’s going to meet somebody with kids, so I think everybody should know exactly what he is and who he is.”
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