Former soldier who raped 13-year-old at Highlands campsite spared jail over Huntington's diagnosis

A former soldier exposed as a serial sex attacker has been spared jail due to his life-limiting medical condition.

Shaun McKenna was once a charity champion raising money to help fellow veterans.

But, a court in February this year, heard how the now 36-year-old violently raped a terrified 13-year-old at a campsite in the Highlands in 2020.

He also committed sex crimes against two other females.

McKenna was back at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday, having earlier admitted to his guilt.

He suffers from degenerative condition Huntington’s Disease, which was first diagnosed in early 2022.

McKenna stays at a specialised care home in Kinross, which he is not allowed to leave alone.

Lord Arthurson said each offence on their own merited a jail-term, especially the rape charge.

But, the judge added McKenna’s personal circumstances were of a “unique nature” and that disposing of the case was a “far from routine sentencing exercise”.

The hearing was told HMP Edinburgh appeared to be the “most suitable” jail to accommodate the needs of the sex attacker’s deteriorating condition.

But, in his sentencing remarks, Lord Arthurson went on: “It is not at all clear to me that the necessary intensive specialised care can realistically be provided in a prison estate.

“In any event, the very real question arises if it would be in the public interest to impose a custodial sentence as it would transfer the burden of care from a nursing home offering specialised care to the prison authorities.”

The judge concluded after considering all background material – including a consultant neurologist’s report – to instead impose a three-year community payback order on McKenna.

This requires him to remain and be supervised at his current nursing home.

McKenna was also put on the sex offenders list.

However, the judge stressed: “I wish to make it crystal clear that the disposal today is borne out of a set of circumstances which are unique in my experience as a sentencer.

“You have left behind you a trail of devastated lives. Your victims experienced real trauma at your hands, and their suffering continues to endure.

“It is hoped this disposal should not in any way be suggestive that the court does not fully acknowledge that ongoing trauma.”

The court earlier heard how the young rape victim had been on holiday with her family.

She was in a tent alone when McKenna – a former lance corporal with 3 Scots – came in and stood close to the girl before pinning her down and raping her.

Mr Lindhorst said: “He told her to stop crying and screaming as well as to shut up.

“(He said) if she told anyone, he would do it worse.”

She eventually managed to escape, and McKenna left the girl alone.

After her ordeal, the young victim initially did not tell her mother, who noticed her daughter was “exhausted and drained”.

It was only in January 2022 that she revealed what had happened.

McKenna was arrested in August of that year – by this time, he was in a personnel recovery unit in Edinburgh.

The court heard he was “not deemed suitable for interview” as a result of his condition.

He was released without charge due to what was considered to be “lack of available corroboration”.

But, in April 2023, McKenna then targeted a woman he had been “friends” with on Facebook.

Mr Lindhorst said she got a message “out of the blue”.

She was sickened to then watch a video of McKenna carrying out a sex act on himself.

He went on to ask if she “liked it” – but she told him the clip was “unacceptable”.

Police were alerted, and this same victim then disclosed that McKenna had sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers living in the same town.

Another victim then came forward to reveal how McKenna had also preyed on her.

The girl had been with other youngsters planning to camp for the night in woods in the Highlands in 2008.

McKenna also later turned up and was “all over” the teenager “like a rash”.

The girl, who had been drinking, was sexually assaulted near a bridge in a quiet area.

Mr Lindhorst said: “She did not consent to any of this happening. She had never previously engaged in sexual activity and had never met McKenna before that night.”

The court heard this victim was “frightened” to tell anyone at the time.

McKenna pled guilty to four charges, including rape as well as lewd and libidinous behaviour.

He was discharged from the army in 2023, having served for ten years.

It was during that year that McKenna told how he was battling his condition to fundraise for fellow squaddies, veterans and their families in the gruelling 54-mile Soldier’s Charity Cateran Yomp across rugged Perthshire countryside.

He had also completed the Washington Marine Corps Marathon in America a year earlier.

As part of his ‘bucket list’, McKenna further spoke of wanting to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro.