A convicted rapist who walked free from court is living under a new identity after changing his name.
Sean Hogg was able to dodge a prison sentence for the attack on a 13-year-old because he’s aged 21. It emerged last week that the Crown Office is to appeal Hogg’s sentence on grounds it was too lenient.
And the Sunday Mail can now reveal he’s calling himself Sean Kay and using the name at an address in Hamilton. It’s feared that the rapist will use the new name to avoid links to the court case and go undetected in new relationships.
The grandmother of his young victim said: “This shows how devious and manipulative this person is. Did he think his name would not be connected to him or was he trying to convince people for some reason it’s not him?”
Hogg’s case prompted anger earlier this month when Judge Lord Lake said sentencing guidelines state rehabilitation rather than a punishment should be the primary consideration for those under 25. He said if Hogg, from Hamilton, had been over that age, he would have received a jail sentence of four or five years.
But instead he handed him 270 hours of unpaid work and put him on the sex offenders’ register for three years. Last month his victim, now 18, told the Sunday Mail she’s scared to leave the house for fear he’ll come for her again.
On various occasions between March and June 2018 Hogg, aged 17, pounced on the girl at Dalkeith Country Park in Midlothian. But we can reveal, by the following October, his name had been changed to Sean Kay. Records for the dad-of-three’s first child – born that month – list the father’s name as Sean Kay and state he was formerly known as “Hogg”.
The same details are on the birth certificate for his other children, born in 2021 and earlier this year. The Sunday Mail also identified Hogg as living under the name “Kay” at an address in Hamilton belonging to a former girlfriend.
But when we called at the address last week, we were told he was no longer there. Kay is the surname of his father Robert. Hogg’s social media has also been changed to “Kay”. It was revealed last year that more than 500 sex offenders had changed their names, with calls for the Scottish Government to introduce measures to prevent them.
Last night Scottish Tory shadow community safety minister Russell Findlay said: “The priority should be public protection, not making life easier for criminals by allowing them to erase their past and potentially enable them to target new victims.”
Police Scotland said it couldn’t comment if it was aware of Hogg’s name change but Detective Superintendent Louise Harvie said registered sex offenders need to notify police within three days.
The Scottish Government said: “The majority of registered sex offenders comply with notification requirements imposed upon them. Swift action is taken by police in the minority of cases that do not comply.”
In another case, a man who sexually assaulted two schoolgirls has avoided jail after being let off with community service. John Rafael Hall, 18, sexually assaulted a 13-year-old in 2018 in Cavalry Park and elsewhere in Edinburgh.
Hall, from Edinburgh, who was 14, repeatedly touched her breasts and buttocks over her clothing and rubbed up against her buttocks. Hall was also convicted of attacking a second teen, then 12.
He sexually assaulted her, placing his hand down her trousers. Hall, then 17, repeatedly threatened to stab her friends if she did not kiss him, seized hold of her hand and attempted to force her to touch him inappropriately as well as asking for sex.
The attacks took place in a wooded area near Holyrood High School at various times in November 2021. Earlier this month Hall was found guilty of sexually assaulting both at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. He was given a community payback order with two years’ supervision and was ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work.
He was also added to the sex offenders’ register for two years.
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