The teenage victim of a rapist who walked free from court has told how she lives in fear after being failed by the justice system.
Sean Hogg, 21, attacked the girl in a park when she was just 13 but a judge only gave him 270 hours of community work and didn’t put him behind bars because of his age.
The case has since made headlines around the world with women’s rights campaigners including Harry Potter JK Rowling hitting out.
Speaking with her identity protected, his young victim told the Sunday Mail about the moment she discovered his sentence: “My anxiety went so bad, I felt I couldn’t breathe, in my head I thought he was going to come for me, he was going to want to hurt me. I was back to being that 13 year old wee girl, scared of the unknown.
“I am the victim of Sean Hogg and I am a victim of the justice system. Why did this person walk out of court a free man? My life has been ruined.”
Last night, after being told about the victim’s concerns, the Crown Office said they would consider the merits of appealing the sentence.
They’ve been urged to do so by the teenager’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, who has now written to Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC and said the victim remains unsure if conditions ordering Hogg not to go near her are still in place.
The cowardly rapist cried in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this month when he appeared for sentencing after being found guilty by a jury.
Judge Lord Lake pointed to new guidelines which state rehabilitation rather than a punishment should be the primary consideration for those under the age of 25.
He admitted that if Hogg, from Hamilton, had been over that age he would have received a jail sentence of four or five years.
But instead he handed him 270 hours of unpaid work and put him on the sex offenders’ register for three years.
Judge Lord Lake said in court: “Rape is one of the most serious crimes and that is why it is tried at the High Court.
“Looking at the circumstances – her age and vulnerabilities are aggravating factors.
“For the level of seriousness, I have to consider your liability and have regard to your age as a factor.
“This offence, if committed by an adult over 25 you attract a sentence of four or five years.
“I don’t consider that appropriate and don’t intend to send you to prison.
“You are a first offender with no previous history of prison – you are 21 and were 17 at the time.
“Prison does not lead me to believe this will contribute to your rehabilitation.”
The victim, from Midlothian, now aged 18, added: “Why was he allowed to get on with his life when he’s clearly ruined mine. Did the judge not bother reading the ordeal I had suffered?
“Now it makes me think why did I even bother reporting the rape in the first place. Nothing happened, and three years on sex offenders’ register for a serial sex offender adds to the insult to the crime he did to me.
“I see the people all around the world are talking about this, it was even in the Washington Times, with the people of America asking what’s going on in that country.
“I’ve seen JK Rowling saying men will think the first time is free, how is this going to help girls in the future who are raped.
“Many girls will see what’s happened to me and think well why bother reporting rape, nothing will happen anyway. Is this the message we want to send out to girls, to children and women who are sexually assaulted and raped?”
Hogg, aged 17 at the time, pounced on the girl at Dalkeith Country Park in Midlothian on various occasions between March and June 2018.
He threatened her and pulled down her clothing, seized her by the wrists and caused her to carry out a sex act on him.
Evil Hogg went on to push his victim’s head down and raped her.
Tweeting about the case, JK Rowling said: “Young Scottish men are effectively being told ‘first time’s free’.”
And in an interview, First Minister Humza Yousaf accepted the “astonishment” over the case but insisted he couldn’t do anything about it.
The young woman said the lack of a proper sentencing has set back her recovery from self-harming, anxiety and nightmares which began after the attack took place.
She added: “You let him go but gave me the victim a life sentence. What am I supposed to do now? Live my life as if nothing happened?”
In his letter to the Lord Advocate last Friday, lawyer Aamer Anwar said: “Before trial Sean Hogg’s bail conditions meant he wasn’t allowed into Dalkeith or and another area where a second complainer resided, nor was he allowed to be with anyone under the age of 16 without a person over the age of 18 being present.
“My client and her family are left wondering what happens now, whilst at the same time questioning why Hogg had imposed only 3 years inclusion on the Sex Offenders Register.
“My client and her family believe that a failure to appeal the sentence of Sean Hogg would be a serious breach of justice by the Crown Office.
“Any talk of justice prevailing will be little more than empty words, if your organisation cannot even reach out to the victim of rape to explain what went wrong.
“It is beyond belief that my client has not even received a letter since sentence was passed.”
The Crown has 30 days from the April 3 sentencing to submit an appeal which will only succeed if it’s deemed to be unduly lenient.
A spokesperson for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service: “The Crown is currently considering whether there are grounds for lodging an appeal against this sentence.”
Sandy Brindley, the Chief Executive of Rape Crisis Scotland which has also been critical of the lack of sentencing, said last night: “This is a shocking case which sends entirely the wrong message to anyone considering reporting rape.
“It can take a lot of courage to report and go through what can be a very difficult and prolonged justice process.
“It is hard to think of any circumstances where community service for rape could ever be an appropriate sentence.
It is also extremely difficult to see how this could in any way act as ‘rehabilitation’ for rape.
“It is completely unacceptable that the young woman in this case doesn’t even know whether there are any conditions in place to protect her.
“The justice system needs to do far better than this if anyone is to have confidence in what will happen if they report rape.”
The young victim is being supported by her grandmother, who in a message to other victims, said: “Please don’t be a victim, speak up, these new guidelines were to help young people who needed it, but certainly not at the expense of giving any young woman like my granddaughter a life sentence, imprisoning her once more in her home, terrified to go out.
“The Judge got it wrong and so something has to change, why are they so quiet now? We can only do this by speaking up.”
