A Swedish woman who flew to Scotland to pursue a relationship with a 15-year-old boy in Fife has been acquitted of any wrongdoing by a jury.
28-year-old Matilda Hogman was said by the boy to have had sex four times with him after meeting him online.
Hogman was accused of repeatedly engaging in sexual intercourse with the teenager and repeatedly kissing him and touching him on the body at a Premier Inn at Dunfermline’s Fife Leisure Park.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, initially began speaking with Hogman on online game League of Legends, before moving to chats on Whatsapp and Discord.
Jurors accepted her claims the boy told her he was 16 years old at the time they met up.
In reality, the boy was 14 when they started speaking to each other online and he was 15 when they met.
Her solicitor Peter Robertson pointed out the boy had initially said he was 16 and when he eventually told her he was 15, she sent no further sexual images or messages before his 16th birthday.
The legal age of consent in Sweden is 16.
The verdict
On Friday, the jury of eight men and seven women took around and hour and a half to reach their verdict.
The majority of jurors took the view the prosecution failed to prove Hogman engaged in sexual activity with the child and and caused him to participate in sexual activity, caused him to view a sexual image and communicated indecently with him.
Also by a majority, the jury found Hogman not guilty of intentionally meeting the teenager to have unlawful sexual activity.
Hogman left the dock in tears after being acquitted.
The trial
The final day of the trial before Sheriff Susan Duff was one of only a handful of essential hearings which took place in Scottish courts on Friday, with most callings being cancelled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
A trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard video evidence from the teenager who said they had sex at the hotel on four separate occasions in November 2020.
Giving evidence herself, Hogman agreed that the communication became flirtatious and sexual in nature.
She feared the boy would be unhappy if she did not continue making positive comments about his appearance.
At times tearful while giving her evidence, Hogman said she never intended to develop feelings given the age gap but ended up “falling for him” and felt she always “had to be there” for him.
