Rape victim stayed silent 'for sake of attacker's son'

Published on Wednesday 17 February 2010 21:42

A RAPE victim kept her ordeal secret for the sake of her attacker's child, a court heard yesterday.

The woman, 18, had not wanted Craig Cormack's young son to grow up knowing that his father was a rapist. Eventually, however, she decided to break her silence and reported him to the police.

He confessed to the attack, which happened when he demonstrated with the woman how he intended to tie up a friend as a birthday "prank".

Cormack, 23, of Calderhall Avenue, East Calder, West Lothian, admitted raping the woman at a house in Livingston, West Lothian, in June 2007. He also pleaded guilty to raping her on a previous occasion. He will be sentenced next month.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told Cormack and the woman had known each other for some time when the attack took place.

Advocate-depute Graeme Jessop said the woman initially did not want to report the incident as she did not want Cormack's son growing up knowing his father to be a rapist. Also, she was not ready to go to the police because she felt depressed. It was more than a year before she came forward.