Aberdeen man jailed for five years for sexual assault on teenage babysitter

ABERDEEN MAN JAILED FOR FIVE YEARS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT ON TEENAGE BABYSITTER

A man was sentenced to five years in prison for raping a babysitter with learning difficulties.

Robert Garrow, 33, later told his victim to throw a cup of tea over him to make her feel better.

Lord Bonomy told him at the High Court in Aberdeen: ''You took advantage of a nice and naive young girl for your own sexual gratification, and left her with a mental scar which will be difficult to erase.'' Garrow raped the 17-year-old after she was staying overnight at a house in Aviemore in July last year.

The girl had been babysitting for Garrow's brother and sister-in-law, looking after their three young children.

The attack occurred when Garrow went to bed and passed through the room where she was sleeping, on his way to the attic bedroom.

The girl described her initial innocent confusion turning to terror as she struggled with Garrow after he began his attack in the bedroom, where a young child was also sleeping.

She tried to fend him off and screamed for help.

Garrow's sister-in-law entered the room to find him leaping off the girl.

Garrow had told her she could throw a cup of tea over him to make her feel better.

In court, Garrow claimed the girl had 'made a pass' at him and invited him into her bed, saying he was 'merry' after drinking six or seven bottles of beer, though not drunk.

Lord Bonomy emphasized the seriousness of the offence despite Garrow's lack of previous convictions for violent or sexual crimes, stating that the court had to consider its gravity.