Millionaire sentenced for sexual offence at 'isolated' Highland lodge

A millionaire Highland lodge owner convicted of indecent communication has been placed on the sex offenders register for two years and ordered to pay his victim £2,000.

Kevin Booth, from Altnabreac, Caithness, instructed his housekeeper to give him a massage once a week, and asked her about her previous sexual relationships and whether she knew how to spank.

Wick Sheriff Court heard he was assessed as being at high risk of reoffending and had shown no remorse.

Sentencing, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said Booth had held "a position of power" over an employee living in his "extremely isolated" home miles away from her family.

The 65-year-old will be under supervision by social work for two years and will have to complete a programme designed to rehabilitate sex offenders.

The court heard that when the woman was employed in August 2022 she was given a document setting out her duties.

They included that she perform a massage on him once a week.

She told Booth she did not have any skills as a masseuse but he insisted and she reluctantly agreed, the court heard.

The housekeeper was concerned by his behaviour during the first massage and told her husband, who wanted her to leave the job.

The woman wanted to stay in the job because the "money was good" and she needed to send money to her family in her home country.

For her safety, she recorded the massages on her phone.

In her sentencing statement, Sheriff MacDonald said in one of the recordings Booth could clearly be heard asking her: "Do you know how to spank?"

The sheriff said he was also recorded talking about performing a sex act.

She said it was clear from the woman's responses that she did not consent to his requests.

"This offence was a complete abuse of trust," said Sheriff MacDonald.

The sheriff said Booth was a "big man" while the housekeeper was a "small woman" who was vulnerable and alone with her employer.

Sheriff MacDonald said: "You abused that position of power.

"You thought that nobody would know that you were saying these sexual things to her."

She said she had been asked to sentence Booth of an "extremely unpleasant" non-contact sexual offence.

Sheriff MacDonald said the Crown Office had not placed any previous convictions of Booth's before her. She said this appeared to be a mistake given the terms of a justice social work report.

The sheriff said this meant she had to treat Booth as a first offender and could not consider imposing a more significant sentence.

The court heard Booth is already the subject of a civil Trafficking and Exploitation Order which means, among other restrictions, he cannot travel abroad.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has it had noted the sheriff's statement.