Sex offender who abused two young girls in the Forth Valley area has now been caged

At Edinburgh High Court this week John Barr (67) was sentenced to seven-years in prison for the attacks, which took place at two addresses within Fallin between October 1983 and October 1991.

One of the girls was aged between 6 and 15-years-old when she was subjected to serious sexual assaults at the hands of Barr.

The other girl was aged between 13 and 18-years-old when she fell victim to Barr’s sick attacks.

Barr came to the attention of Forth Valley’s Public Protection Unit in November 2017, when one of the women, now in her forties, contacted police to report the abuse.

An investigation followed, with a previous case from 2003 relating to the other woman also being re-opened.

Following this investigation Barr was charged on March 21 last year and subsequently found guilty of four charges of rape and one charge of lewd and libidinous practices at Edinburgh High Court on July 26 this year.

Detective Constable David Brown from Forth Valley’s Divisional Rape Investigation Unit said: “For almost a decade, John Barr preyed on two young girls and committed horrific sexual offences against them.

“Had it not been for their bravery in coming forward his crimes could have gone un-punished. Now, however, he will serve a custodial sentence and I wish to thank both women for their continued support of their the police investigation.

“It is my sincere hope that both can now put their respective ordeals behind them and move on with their lives. We are committed to bringing all perpetrators for sexual abuse to justice and time is no barrier for our inquiries.

“We would urge anyone who wishes to report sexual crime, regardless of when it occurred, to contact us so we can conduct a thorough and professional investigation.”