Olympic coach guilty of sex abuse

A former Irish Olympic coach has been convicted of sexually abusing one of his young female athletes.

Keith Francis Burns, 64, of Silverhill, Enniskillen, had denied indecently assaulting the girl from 1994, when she was 13, until 2002.

Burns was secretly taped by the girl, now aged 25, and her parents in a local bar where he confessed he was guilty of "four or five serious offences".

He admitted on tape he had done "things which should not have happened".

Burns was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register and will be sentenced next month.

He was unanimously convicted at Dungannon Magistrates Court of seven out of nine indecent assault charges, but was acquitted of two charges of abusing the girl when she was 12.

During his trial, he claimed he was "set up" and "ambushed" by the girl and her parents, and that he was "confused and stressed" when confronted by them.

He claimed his taped confession was a misunderstanding, and told the court he thought he was being accused of massaging a sports' injury, which was against coaching guidelines and protocols.

The court had heard he would measure her while she was nearly naked, allegedly to work out her "body fat".

Burns began measuring her bust and finally persuaded her to strip naked for him because he "admired the human form", the court was told.

He also made sexual suggestions to her, the jury heard.