LET SCHOOL MONSTER ROT IN JAIL

Marion Scott

VICTIMS of pervert art teacher Matthew George yesterday said they hope he rots behind bars.

One of the ex-pupils of residential Kerelaw School in Ayrshire turned to drugs after his ordeal.

The school was closed after a probe by the Care Commission and education inspectors two years ago.

George, 56, and care worker John Muldoon, 53, were convicted of 22 abuse offences last week at the High Court in Edinburgh

Sentence was deferred pending reports and they were remanded in custody.

George, of Largs, and Muldoon, of Irvine, had faced 85 charges dating back 30 years, which they denied.

The art teacher hit kids, forced them to perform sex acts on him and abused them in other ways.

A total of 21 men and 17 women were lined up to describe the abuse they suffered at Kerelaw, near Stevenston.

Among them was a 41- year-old grandfather, who wept as he told how George repeatedly sexually abused him when he was a pupil.

The Glasgow-born victim said: "I'm glad the jury convicted him and hope he gets 25 years for the evil he's done to so many people.

"I've tried to slash my wrists and arms and taken overdoses because I could not live with the horror.

"George targeted boys who were vulnerable - those who didn't have family to visit, the weak and the most frightened.

"I ran away many times but was always brought back by the police."

Another victim, a 33-yearold man from Glasgow's east end, told the court George had taken him to his family home and blindfolded him before committing a sex act.

He said: "I hope he rots in jail for what he did. He's an evil, perverted pig."

The school was opened in the early 1970s.