Teenager living in fear after rapist Sean Hogg walked free

A teenager who was raped when she was 13 is living in fear that her attacker will come after her after he walked free from court.

Sean Hogg was 17 when he attacked the young victim in Dalkeith Country Park on a number of occasions in 2018.

He was convicted of rape earlier this month. However, due to new sentencing guidelines for under 25s, he was not jailed and instead given 270 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Lord Lake said if Hogg had committed the crime when he was over 25, he would have given him a jail sentence of four or five years.

His victim, who is anonymous to protect her identity, has spoken about how the rape and the subsequent sentence, has affected her.

In a statement, she said she was diagnosed with PTSD, suffered from panic attacks and self-harmed on a daily basis following the attacks.

She also said she had undergone three years of counselling.

The teenager, now 18, said CCTV was fitted in her home so she could see who was coming to her street, and she would not leave the house without one of her grandparents.

She has suffered from anxiety and nightmares and has had relationship problems.

"The day my grandmother told me Sean Hogg had been found guilty of rape, I thought there may be a chance of being happy again. I knew he was going to go to jail," she said.

It took the teenager about six months to tell her grandmother what had happened.

"I felt glad I reported it, as I felt he needed to pay for what he had done," she said.

In the run-up to the trial she suffered repeated panic attacks due to "overwhelming" anxiety. When the case was eventually heard, she gave her evidence through a video link.

"The fact he could see me through a video link made me feel sick," she said. "When I was told he had been found guilty I felt a wave of emotions. I didn't know how to react. I cried, I think I cried with relief.

"I stupidly thought it was finally over, after years of fear, I thought, now it's his time to feel fear."

However due to the new sentencing guidelines, Hogg, 21, from Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, was ordered to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work. He was also put under supervision and added to the sex offenders register for three years.

On learning about his sentence, his victim said she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"In my head I thought, he's going to come for me, he's going to want to hurt me," she said. "I was back to being that 13-year-old wee girl, scared of the unknown.

"My grandparents felt they had let me down but they didn't. It was the judge that let me down.

"Why is it ok to rape anyone and not go to jail? 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."

The sentencing has drawn criticism from rape victims and the Rape Crisis charity, while the case has been discussed across the world.

"It was even in the Washington Times, with the people of America asking what's going on in that country," the victim said. "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?

"Whoever is in charge of the justice system needs to sort this out: you say you care about victims like me, but how can a serial rapist receive 270 hours community payback?

"I did not get justice, the system failed me, the judge failed me, he didn't protect me. I had done nothing wrong and yet he is a free man. You let him go, but gave me, the victim, a life sentence."

In an interview with the BBC, the teenager's grandfather said: "I always thought she'd be safe on the streets of this country we live in, but since this has happened I have no respect for the law at all.

"It's been devastating for her. She's had to go through three years of counselling which has helped her immensely. But since this sentence with Lord Lake, it's destroyed her again.

"I promised her justice would be done. I've been brought up honest all my life and I thought justice would be served in my country.

"But now, with this new ruling they've got, any person under 25 can go out and do any crime they want, however horrendous it may be, and there's a good chance they will get a community payback."

He added: "I feel like I've lied to her - I've let her down - because I promised her he would go to jail.

"I never imagined he'd get community service - picking up paper in a park or sanding down a bench in the park - for raping a child. He's basically walked free."

He said he wanted the Crown Office to re-examine the case, as he believed the judge had made a "terrible mistake".

The guidelines for sentencing under-25s were introduced in Scotland in January 2022.

They made rehabilitation rather than punishment a primary consideration, recommending an "individualistic approach" taking into account their life experiences.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said he understood the concerns which had been expressed, but stressed that sentencing was a matter for the judiciary.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office said: "The Crown is currently considering whether there are grounds for lodging an appeal against this sentence."