James Arnott, 47, carried out the offences between 1979 and 1998 in Glenrothes and Glasgow and had been due to stand trial in September 2015, heraldscotland.com reports.

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He, however, handed himself in to the Ghanaian authorities and was sent back to Scotland to face justice.

The father of nine was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow Thursday after being found guilty of a total of seven charges, including rape and indecent assault.

The Judge, Norman Ritchie QC said that it was “unsurprising” that Arnott was convicted given the victims’ evidence.

“This was a catalogue of depravity over almost 20 years,” he added.

Arnott repeatedly raped a woman over a period of four years beginning in 1979.

He later abused three girls until the 1990s.

One of the victims was aged around five when it began, with the other two being in their early teens.

He preyed on them at houses in Crookston, Glasgow, and Glenrothes.