An Aberdeen teenager who carried out serious sexual assaults on two young boys when he was 12 has been locked up for more than two years.
Declan Morrison, 18, was given two-and-a-half years detention by judge Lord Richardson at the High Court in Edinburgh.
He was found guilty following trial at the High Court in Aberdeen on charges that he raped one of his victims at a play park in the city in 2015 when they were both aged 12.
He was also found guilty by majority of attempting to rape an eight-year-old boy in the same year.
During proceedings, the boy Morrison raped – who is now aged 18 – said that he screamed and shouted for his attacker to stop.
The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said as he assaulted him against a climbing frame on a night between Christmas and New Year 2015.
A second witness – who was eight at the time – said he felt compelled to report that Morrison had attempted to rape him on an old mattress as he “would just see it” whenever he tried to close his eyes.
He described both crimes as “opportunistic” with Morrison pouncing on one of his victims in a play area at Sheddocksley playing fields and another at a den where children played.
‘No alternative to custody’
Morrison also then warned his rape victim “don’t tell anyone”.
Mr Mitchell pointed out similarities in the way Morrison spoke to his victims before the attacks, where he asked the eight-year-old if he wanted to know “how to do sex”.
He also asked his 12-year-old victim: “Do you want to do things that people think is gay but isn’t gay?”
“I say that these similarities are such that they show a course of conduct systematically pursued by the accused,” Mr Mitchell said.
Judge Lord Richardson told Morrison that there was no alternative to custody.
Morrison, of Rorie Court, Aberdeen, has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
