Girl lost virginity when boyfriend raped her days in relationship

A teenager has bravely renounced his right to anonymity to speak out about the horrific sexual abuse inflicted on her by her ex-boyfriend.

Roni Smith was tormented by Brandon MacLean for six months before her family intervened.

He first raped her less than three weeks into the relationship, which began in August 2020 when Roni was just 16 years old.

Roni, from Kirkcaldy, Scotland, said: “We had only been 19 days into our relationship when he raped me. That day I lost my virginity.

“Then he kept watching me and if I tried to leave he threatened to kill himself. I felt completely trapped.”

Within days of the relationship beginning, Brandon began following Roni’s every move with Snapchat, calling her constantly and isolating her from her family.

In the months that followed, he repeatedly hit her, took her cell phone, urged her to get pregnant and threatened to kill himself if she left him.

Roni said: “My friends at the time were all good friends with him, so I felt like I couldn’t tell them what was happening because they wouldn’t have believed me.”

After suffering a miscarriage in February 2021, Roni set up a secret Facebook account to message her mother and tell her what had happened.

She added: “That’s when we made plans for me to leave him.

“My grandparents came to his house when he was there and refused to leave until I went with them.”

After being taken to the hospital for an examination, Roni and her mother went to a police station to report the abuse.

Brandon MacLean was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Monday in Edinburgh’s High Court after being found guilty of raping Roni and another woman.

She said: “Brandon was my first real relationship. I thought that was normal behavior at the time, but it wasn’t normal—it was far from normal. I was naive and completely blind to it.

“He stole my childhood and I can’t get it back, but if this happens to you, remember, you didn’t ask for it and you don’t deserve it.

You have to find a way out. Otherwise I would probably be dead.”

Roni, who is now 18, is expecting a new baby with partner Jordan Johnston, 24.

She added: “Look what I’ve achieved with Brandon. He is now in prison for what he did. If I can do it, others can too.

“You will be believed if you speak up and you will be fine. It’s scary and it won’t be easy, but life gets better.

“If I hadn’t come out, I wouldn’t have met Jordan or had this baby. You have the power to do it, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.”

Detective Constable Sean Wesson said: “MacLean will now rightfully face the consequences of his heinous actions in prison.

“The fact that he was convicted and convicted is due to the courage of his victims to go to the police and make a report.”

He added: “I would urge people to come forward and report it. You can be assured of full support from officials and our partner agencies.’

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