Victim Rights Ignored by Judge
From SparkleMatrix
Shocking case where the judge does not want to ruin a promising football career so the self-confessed guilty defendant walks free.
Callum McKinlay, 16, last week admitted filming a friend having sex with a young girl and then distributing the pictures to schoolfriends. McKinlay, who has played for the Scotland Under-16 squad, was told by a sheriff he would not be punished for fear of harming his football career.
According to The Scotsman both police who investigated the case, and the mother of the girl, claim the incident has been massively underplayed and are enraged that both the young men involved escaped the most serious criminal charges.
Quote from a source at Tayside Police:
"The Crown has not moved on as we have in recent years when dealing with sexual crime, and the interests of victims never seem to be the main concern for prosecutors."
From reading the details of The Scotsman Article it is clear that both boys involved in the case were orginally charged with rape, serious sexual assault and sex with a minor by the police. Despite the fact that video evidence existed to back up these charges The Crown decided to drop proceedings.
In fact the defendent walked free on even the lesser charge of making and distributing indecent images as the Sheriff didn't want to damage a promising football career. The rights of the victim have been completely ignored in this case.
Sandra Brown, founder of the Moira Anderson Foundation, a charity that works with families affected by child sexual abuse and has supported the girl's family, said: "The balance in the justice system is clearly still not right. This girl is a vulnerable child, the sort of person the system is supposed to protect, yet she has been let down because the interests of the young men involved and their futures have been given priority."
Shocking case where the judge does not want to ruin a promising football career so the self-confessed guilty defendant walks free.
Callum McKinlay, 16, last week admitted filming a friend having sex with a young girl and then distributing the pictures to schoolfriends. McKinlay, who has played for the Scotland Under-16 squad, was told by a sheriff he would not be punished for fear of harming his football career.
According to The Scotsman both police who investigated the case, and the mother of the girl, claim the incident has been massively underplayed and are enraged that both the young men involved escaped the most serious criminal charges.
Quote from a source at Tayside Police:
"The Crown has not moved on as we have in recent years when dealing with sexual crime, and the interests of victims never seem to be the main concern for prosecutors."
From reading the details of The Scotsman Article it is clear that both boys involved in the case were orginally charged with rape, serious sexual assault and sex with a minor by the police. Despite the fact that video evidence existed to back up these charges The Crown decided to drop proceedings.
In fact the defendent walked free on even the lesser charge of making and distributing indecent images as the Sheriff didn't want to damage a promising football career. The rights of the victim have been completely ignored in this case.
Sandra Brown, founder of the Moira Anderson Foundation, a charity that works with families affected by child sexual abuse and has supported the girl's family, said: "The balance in the justice system is clearly still not right. This girl is a vulnerable child, the sort of person the system is supposed to protect, yet she has been let down because the interests of the young men involved and their futures have been given priority."
posted by modestyrocks at Sunday, January 28, 2007
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