A teenager who snuck a 15-year-old girl into his bedroom left her upset and sobbing after grabbing her thigh.
Jason Taylor was initially charged with sexual assault but this was later amended to threatening or abusive behaviour after the Crown determined there was “no significant sexual element”.
That decision was deemed a “remarkable concession” by Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood when the case called at Elgin Sheriff Court.
The then 18-year-old met the young girl, who was with a friend, in Doocot Park in Elgin at around 6pm on April 21 last year, the court was told.
Took girl home hours after meeting
“The complainer was introduced to the accused and all parties walked to a bike shelter by Elgin Primary School,” fiscal depute Victoria Silver said.
“At around 9pm the accused, complainer and her friend went back to his address on Sandy Road, Elgin.
“When they entered he told them to be quiet and go up to his room. She sat on his bed and he sat next to her.
“She told him she was only 15 years old. He thereafter nipped her on her upper left thigh. The friend left the room and left them alone.
“When he re-entered he and the complainer left the house.”
Girl left ‘ distressed and upset’
Taylor’s victim, who he had known only three hours, told a friend about the incident later that night.
“She called them around midnight,” the fiscal added. “She sounded distressed and upset and told her that the accused had grabbed her upper thigh. They later met up and she showed her friend the red marks that had been left on her upper thing.”
Taylor, 19, admitted an amended plea to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
He also pled guilty to further charges from earlier dates whereby he was twice caught with intent to commit theft at different addresses on Ashfield Drive, Elgin, on January 1 2021.
He also admitted possession of Class B drug cannabis, worth £100, and punching a police officer on the head after they were called to reports of him “kicking off” in front of his mum at an address in Lhanbryde on August 21 2021.
‘There was no sexual element’
His defence agent Stephen Carty said alcohol was the “common theme” in all of the complaints.
“It’s when he’s under the influence of alcohol that he gets himself into these situations,” he said. “That’s a matter of great regret to Mr Taylor.”
The solicitor added there had been a deletion to the initial charge concerning the young girl as there was “no sexual element to the crime”.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood told him: “That’s a remarkable concession by the Crown. He grabs a young girl by the thigh with no sexual intent?”
He handed Taylor, of Sandy Road, Elgin, a two-year supervision order and 120 hours of unpaid work.
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