Gary Bloom is a former primary school teacher found guilty of historical child sex abuse in Australia Get the latest Scottish crime and courts news sent straight to your inbox with our daily Criminal Record newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest Scottish crime and courts news sent straight to your inbox with our daily Criminal Record newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice A convicted paedophile who runs a Scottish B&B should be placed on the sex offenders’ register , insists one of his victims . Gary Bloom , 69, was a primary school teacher in Australia in 1985 when he sexually assaulted 10-year-old Stewart Carter. Bloom later emigrated to
Scotland but after he returned to Australia for a family visit in 2021, he was arrested. Despite being found guilty to three separate charges of indecent assault, he walked free and was able to return to Scotland. Stewart, now 49, said: "The fact that Bloom has been allowed to lawfully return to Scotland means it would be sensible for him to be placed on the sex offenders’ register. Stewart Carter who was a victim of abuse by teacher Gary Bloom. (Image: UGC MSR.) Read More Related Articles Boy, 14, rushed to hospital after attack in Glasgow park as teen arrested Read More Related Articles Major
police incident in Glasgow as emergency services descend on city street "That would be an ideal. I can't see why he should escape those obligations by simply being in another country. He's a convicted child sex offender who has unfettered access to children who stay at the B&B." Stewart contacted Police Scotland about Bloom, who runs a guest house in Aberdeen and was placed on the sex offenders' register in his homeland for life. He said: "I wanted to know if there was a way in which Bloom could experience the same restrictions as he would if he lived in the State of Victoria. Join the Daily Record's
WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. "Things such as having to report his whereabouts and submit his DNA. The police in Scotland said he was not known to them." Stewart was just 10 when Bloom began to abuse him. He said: "I was sexually abused by Gary Bloom, who was a neighbour of mine. He was a primary school teacher and a swim coach, not mine, but worked in the Catholic education system here in Melbourne. "Multiple instances of abuse took place over months. I still have very strong memories of the offending but I pushed it away and figured that I didn’t matter enough for it to be reported. Stewart Carter as a young boy. (Image: Supplied.) Read More Related Articles Thousands of pounds of fake Scottish notes seized after crooks use self service Read More Related Articles Mum tracks down violent video of "vulnerable" son's arrest as officers probed "Then in 2019, I decided that I wanted Gary Bloom to be held to account. I didn't know at that point whether he was alive, where he lived, what he was doing. "I hadn't seen him since the late 80s, when I was still a boy, so I went into a local police station and reported the crimes." The
Australian police listened in when Stewart called Bloom, who admitted wrongdoing. He said: "As part of the investigation, I actually called Gary and the police recorded the conversation in which I spoke to him for about an hour and a half. By that stage, I’d Googled him and found that he runs a B&B in Scotland. He also works offshore. "And while he couldn’t remember me specifically, he said it was consistent with what he was doing at that time in his life. But during the Covid epidemic, there was no energy police over here to extradite him." When Bloom unexpectedly returned to Australia in 2021 to visit family, he was arrested. Stewart said: "He was taken into custody and interviewed and charged with multiple offences." The stress of reporting Bloom's crimes and the trial took its toll on Stewart. He said: "As the person reporting the crime, you don’t get a lot of say. I had just become a witness to the matter but at no point am I critical of the police. They did an incredible
Job. They included me and shared information. Gary Bloom who now lives in Scotland Read More Related Articles Teen fighting for life after gang brawl with 'knives and machetes' Read More Related Articles
fire crews battle huge blaze at "momentous" Scots council building on the market and under offer "But at the trial, I really was just a number. I went from being a high-functioning individual to being unemployed and I struggled with PTSD." Bloom was found guilty in January last year and sentenced in October. Stewart said: "Initially, he was given five years but his sentence was reduced to three years suspended. He didn’t spend a second in jail. An application to leave for Scotland was granted just before
Christmas even though he was on the sex offenders' register." He added: "He didn't take any responsibility for his actions. He said he was exploring his sexuality. He's now lives as an openly gay man and dismissed his behaviour as exploring being gay. Denmore Guest House in Aberdeen Read More Related Articles Man dead and teen left fighting for life after car crashes into wall Read More Related Articles Rishi Sunak's Tories facing Scottish wipeout in Westminster poll prediction "For a long time, he was held up as a standard bearer for the gay community in Aberdeen. He marched in Pride marches for Shell, who he was working for. "His wife married him after he offended in 1990 and went to court with him so she knows he is a child sex offender. But people like him live in the shadows. Statistically, they don’t just offend once. "There are seven years between his known offences. He took off to work on the
Oil rigs to start again on the other side of the world, which says a lot." Bloom was approached by The Record. His wife told us: “It was 39 years ago." Top news stories today Grieving parents demand justice for tot Dad's knife threat after school fight Mum threw weedkiller in cop's face Scots paedophile
prison death probe Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here. Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record
Facebook Twitter Comment More On Police Scotland Sex crime Aberdeen Education Schools Child sex abuse Justice