Rapist Sean Hogg’s victim has received an apology from Scotland’s top law officer but remains a “prisoner in her own home” because he avoided jail.
A letter said sorry for Crown Office failures to keep her informed and confirmed that bail conditions preventing Hogg approaching her in the run-up to his trial no longer apply.
Despite her solicitor, Aamer Anwar, seeking reassurance from Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC that Hogg cannot approach her, none was given.
Hogg was 17 when he raped his victim when she was 13. He carried out the attacks in Dalkeith Country Park, Midlothian, in 2018.
Hogg, now 21, was found guilty of rape at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this month.
Judge Lord Lake ordered him to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work instead of being jailed as a result of guidelines for sentencing under-25s that were introduced in Scotland last year.
Justice campaigners attacked the sentence, including author JK Rowling, who said young men were effectively being told the first attack was free in Scotland.
Hogg’s lawyers have lodged papers to appeal his conviction and the Crown Office has still not committed to appealing against the sentence’s leniency.
The young woman, now 18, is bewildered by the way she has been treated by the justice system and questioned whether it was worth reporting the rape.
Following the apology, Mr Anwar has asked the Lord Advocate if protection for the victim is built into the sentence.
He says: “Can you advise whether any consideration was given to ensure contact should be avoided with our client in the community that she lives?
“If it was not done, can you confirm that steps will be taken to ensure that this happens for rape victims in the future?
“The Crown owes a moral duty of care to victims of sex crimes to ensure that they remain protected once they have given evidence and the accused is successfully convicted.”
Anwar’s letter to the Crown Office includes a response from the victim’s grandmother.
She says: “The last two weeks have been a shameful and a cruel way to treat a survivor of rape, my granddaughter. As a family we have been left scrabbling about for information in the press. Whilst we appreciate the Lord Advocate’s apology, it is too little and too late.
“My granddaughter feels betrayed … as a victim she has been left out of the process.”
She adds: “It is shocking that no one thought my granddaughter important enough to tell that she no longer had the protection of the bail conditions. Once again she was made to feel like a prisoner in her own home.”
Mr Anwar criticises the Crown’s Victim Information and Advice service, saying it had failed to obtain answers to questions raised by the victim.
A Crown Office spokesperson said: “We have been in contact over this case and will continue to provide information.
“The Crown is giving careful consideration to an appeal against sentence. The court has … said they expect a high standard of care in such appeals.”
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