East Lothian victim raped at 13 speaks out after attacker walked free from court

The victim who was raped when she was 13 said her life has been "ruined".

The teenage victim of a rapist who was spared jail has said she "couldn't breathe" when she heard he was given a community payback sentence.

She was 13 when Sean Hogg, then 17, raped her in Dalkeith Country Park in Midlothian.

Hogg, now 21, was found guilty earlier this month at the High Court in Glasgow but only sentenced to a community payback order of 270 hours of unpaid work.

The teenage victim was 13 when Sean Hogg, then 17, raped her in Dalkeith Country Park in Midlothian.

He walked free after the Judge ruled a prison sentence would not be ‘appropriate’.

The sentence sparked outrage and calls from campaigners to review sentencing guidelines which advises custodial sentences should be imposed only on those under the age of 25, if no other sentence is appropriate.

More than 1000 people have signed a petition asking Angela Constance, the Minister For Justice in Scotland to intervene and change this sentence for an appropriate custodial sentence.

The victim, now 18, told the Sunday Mail: "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."

She questioned why he was able to walk out of court and said her life has been "ruined".

"Now it makes me think why did I even bother reporting the rape in the first place," she added.

"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 was also put under supervision and the sex offenders register for three years. Donald Findlay KC, defending, told the sentencing that an appeal is planned.

Her lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said: "My client and her family believe a failure to appeal 270 hours community service sentence for her rape by Sean Hogg would be a serious breach of justice by Crown Office."

A spokesperson for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service told the newspaper: "The Crown is currently considering whether there are grounds for lodging an appeal against this sentence."