A man who raped a 13-year-old girl in a park when he was 17 has escaped jail after a judge said he did not consider a prison term “appropriate.”
Sean Hogg, 21, was 17 when he attacked the schoolgirl on several occasions at the Dalkeith Country Park, in Midlothian, Scotland, between March and June 2018.
It is unclear how the pair knew each other, but court documents stated Hogg threatened the girl, seized her by the wrists and forced her to carry out a sex act before raping her, the BBC reports.
The offender, of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, wept in the dock as he awaited sentencing on Monday after being found guilty by a jury.
Judge Jonathan Lake, of the High Court in Glasgow, said that if the crime had been committed by an adult over 25, Hogg would have received a jail sentence of four or five years. But the convicted rapist was allowed to walk free from court and was ordered to do 270 hours of unpaid work instead.
New guidelines for sentencing under 25-year-olds were introduced in Scotland in January 2022, which made rehabilitation the primary aim rather than punishment.
Judge Lake said rape was “one of the most serious crimes” but went on to tell Hogg: “For the level of seriousness, I have to consider your liability and have regard to your age as a factor. For 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.”
As well as 270 hours of community work, Hogg was also put under supervision, and must remain on the sex offenders’ register for three years. Defense lawyer Donald Findlay told the court that his team was planning to appeal.
Newsweek has asked Findlay for comment by email.
Asked for comment by Newsweek, Scotland’s Crown Office, the country’s public prosecution service, said: “As with all cases, the Crown will consider the sentence and give consideration to whether it might be unduly lenient.”
Newsweek has contacted a Scottish charity that works with rape victims seeking a comment on the case.
In contrast to the Scottish court’s leniency, a Louisiana man convicted of raping a child will be chemically castrated before his release back into society after serving 35 years behind bars. Ryan Clark, 34, was sentenced last month and must submit to regular injections to reduce his testosterone levels.
And disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein looks set to spend the rest of his life in prison after the rapist was sentenced in February to a further 16 years in prison for a 2013 rape. The 70-year-old was already serving a 23-year prison term on other rape and sexual assault charges. The judge ruled the two sentences cannot be served concurrently, effectively putting the Hollywood mogul behind bars for life.
But elsewhere in the U.S., courts have been accused of being too lenient when it comes to punishing sex offenders.
Former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner made headlines around the world when he was given a six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2015, and was subsequently released after just three months.
