Victim, 12 reveals her ordeal in letter

A 12- year- old rape victim whose attacker walked free has written a heartbreaking letter describing how her life had been ruined.

The girl was plied with vodka and cherry cola at a party before being raped by Daniel Cieslak, then aged 19.

Cieslak, now 21, was controversially given an absolute discharge after claiming the 12-year-old had been an “active participant” in sex with him.

Silent until now, the young victim, who can be named only as Catherine, says she believes her attacker had sex with her while she was unconscious.

She woke up in a strange bed in a f lat in Edinburgh, feared she was pregnant and has since been on medication having made a failed bid to take her own life.

In the letter, Catherine, now 14, writes: “The guy Daniel said he didn’t know my age. I can barely remember that night. “I have flashbacks, images ever since. “I had passed out in the living room then I remember him picking me up, and then wakening up in a bed.

“It was said that I consented but how can someone consent when they can’t even talk?

“Before this happened, I was confident, happy, always had a smile on my face without trying. And now I fake a smile.

“I suffer from anxiety, depression, I take tablets to help me sleep. I even tried to commit suicide because I was barely holding it together.

“I have had a lot of low points. Then I found out he pled guilty and I didn’t have to go to court. My family and I celebrated.

“Then he walked free, nothing at all. I was devastated.”

The letter is published today with the permission of the girl’s mother, who can be named only as Christine.

Christine is furious at the decision by judge Lady Scott not to properly punish Cieslak.

He pled guilty to a charge of raping a girl under the age of 13 at the High Court in Glasgow in February.

The fol lowing month, Lady Scott gave him an absolute discharge – meaning he escaped meaning ful punishment– after hearing he believed his victim was 16.

She said she took into account the girl’s “willingness” to go to a party and engage in “consensual sexual activity” in which she was an “active participant”.

The judge said while consent was not a defence to a charge of