JAIL FOR MAN WHO RAPED AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTED GIRLS WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG TEEN
At 23 years of age, Elliot Small was found guilty of one sexual assault involving rape, seven other sexual assault charges, and a charge related to participating in sexual activity with a child.His offending began when he was just 13, with the youngest victim recorded as being 12 years old.
The court proceedings lasted over two weeks and included evidence given by Small’s female victims.
On jailing Small, Judge Ian Millar said: “These offences were committed against four different complainers during a period of around slightly over three years, when they were aged between 12 and 14, and you were aged between 13 and 16.
“I explained to you after the trial that all sexual offences are self-evidently serious, but that the crime of rape is particularly serious and generally results in a significant sentence of imprisonment.
“You have a number of convictions for crimes involving violence, disorder and breach of bail conditions or other orders of court for which you have served a number of short custodial sentences.
“Of most concern is that you were convicted in 2020 of the statutory offence of engaging in sexual activity with or towards a girl aged over 13, but under 16, classed, therefore, as an older child, for which you were made subject to a community payback order.” Referencing the victim impact statement from Small’s rape victim, Judge Millar said: “It powerfully describes a number of lasting negative effects on her mental health, her ability to trust other people and form personal relationships, and her general peace of mind and ability to engage in and enjoy her life, which she attributes to the crimes committed by you.” The judge also noted that Small’s sexual assaults were reported to police when he was 13 and, as a result, he was placed under supervision following a Children’s Panel hearing.
He said: “I note from your criminal justice social work report that, when you were age 13, you were referred to the reporter to the children’s hearing in relation to the crimes of which you were convicted by the jury involving the first three complainers.
“I note that you remained subject to the supervision of the children’s hearing for a period of 18 months, during which you had access to a period of assessment and programming work.
“As described, it appears to have been intended to provide you with support to prevent you from committing further offences of a similar nature.
“Despite that intervention, you went on to commit the crimes of which the jury convicted you.” Small was handed an eight-year extended sentence, with a five-year period of imprisonment.
Judge Millar said the extra three years on licence were to protect the public from potential future offending.
Judge Millar also banned Small from contacting his rape victim for five years and placed him on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.
One victim told the jury that Small sexually assaulted her at a children’s playpark in Kintore when she was 12 years old.
The woman, now in her 20s, said she had been playing with Small and another friend when a game of Truth or Dare was suggested in the summer of 2015.
She alleged that, without warning, Small put his hand down her trousers and touched her private parts.
Breaking down at one point, the woman claimed Small had told her it would “all be over in a second” before she ordered him to “stop” and “get off” before running home.
Asked by the advocate depute Wojciech Jajdelski why she didn’t report the incident until months after it occurred, she said: “I was scared.
“I didn’t know what was happening.
I felt dirty and I didn’t want to tell anyone.” “What were you scared of?” Mr Jajdelski asked her.
“Just people finding out,” she replied.
A second woman, also now in her 20s, told the court that she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by Small near the banks of the River Don in Kemnay when she was 13 years old.
She told jurors that Small, also 13 at the time, dragged her up against a tree within Lasharmie Woods, where he sexually assaulted her by placing his hand into her underpants and touching her private parts.
In total, the woman described four incidents involving Small over a seven-day period where he made repeated attempts to sexually assault her and did so on several occasions.
On one occasion in September 2016, the woman claimed Small repeatedly put his hand up her skirt and “did manage to get his hand inside my underwear”.
Asked by the advocate depute what she did when this happened, she said: “I kept telling him to stop.
I was pushing his hand away.” “Did he stop?” Mr Jajdelski asked.
“No,” she replied.
The court heard evidence that Small also sexually assaulted a third girl in a tunnel near Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom and at playing pitches in Kintore when she was 12 years old and he was around 13.
Another woman, now 20, gave evidence that Small had raped her in a bed at his parents’ house in Kintore when she was 14.
She described a harrowing incident in which Small climbed on top of her, held her by the wrists and pinned her down before placing his hands around her throat as he began to rape her.
“He pushed my shoulders down and then his hands were around my throat,” she told the advocate depute, adding: “I just remember that I couldn’t breathe while he was doing it.
“It wasn’t enough to leave any marks, but it was enough that I couldn’t breathe.” Asked by Small’s defence advocate Drew McKenzie why she didn’t shout for help knowing there were other people in the house, the woman said: “I don’t know.
I remember freezing,” “It was terrifying,” she elaborated when asked about the same incident later.
“Someone having control over your own body – I just froze.” Small appeared at the High Court in Aberdeen today via video link from prison, where he has been on remand since April 2024.
Judge Millar explained that the sentence imposed would be back-dated to when he was first placed on remand.
