A drug dealer who repeatedly raped a 15-year-old boy after plying children with cannabis has been handed an extended eight and a half year sentence.
Jamie Chapman – who carried out all his crimes in Buckie – was branded an ongoing danger to young teenagers after he was found guilty of four drug supply and sex attack charges at the High Court.
Chapman, 28, from Peterhead, was found guilty of supplying cannabis to four children, aged between 14 and 17, from 2 January until 29 July 2022.
He was found guilty of carrying out several sex attacks on a 14-year-old girl, including one in which he persuaded her friend to watch before getting her to join in.
Chapman was also found guilty of exchanging graphic sexual messages with the 14-year-old girl, as well as raping the 15-year-old boy on various occasions between October 2021 and October 2022.
Child rapist still denies guilt
The High Court in Dundee was told that Chapman continues to deny his guilt despite the jury’s verdict.
Delivering his sentence today, Lord Renucci told Chapman: “This was a 15-year-old boy and it wasn’t a one-off occasion. This was the rape of a 15-year-old boy on a number of occasions.
“You were plying three young teenagers with cannabis over a six-month period. The other charges were sexual offences involving older children, who were considerably younger than you.
“You lied to each of the complainers about your age. The final charge was particularly sinister as it involved you grooming your victim.
“Your victims were vulnerable and it was clear you targeted them because of their vulnerabilities. You exploited them by providing them with cannabis.
“You seek to minimise it with the suggestion that you only did this because they asked you to. You have an unhealthy sexual interest in teenage children.
A danger to young teenagers
“No violence was used, but anything that could be said in your favour is heavily outweighed by the gravity of your offending and the period of time over which it continued.
“These were not one-off events. You have continued to deny the offences and claim ignorance of the age of your victims. There remains a significant risk of offending on your part.
“Having regard to the manipulative behaviour and your significant interest in young teenagers, I have no doubt you continue to pose a significant risk of harm to people in that age group.
“You will remain a danger to young teenagers. The need to protect the public from you requires me to fix an extended sentence period.”
Heavy cannabis user
He told Chapman he would serve six years and six months in prison, with a further two years extended sentence. Chapman was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and banned from having contact with his victims for life.
Defence counsel Rebecca Osborne told the court Chapman had a difficult upbringing and led an “unstructured lifestyle” which included heavy use of cannabis.
Lord Renucci noted he had only worked for three months of his adult life and claimed a GP had confirmed that medical issues meant he would be unable to ever work.
He said: “You claim your GP has deemed you permanently unfit to work because of the risk to your health – risks that didn’t prevent you sourcing cannabis for children and committing sexual offences against them.”