Ex-Police Sergeant Jailed 10 Years for Rape and Years of Abuse

(Cameron Ross. Photo Credit: Daily Mail)

A former policeman who r@ped two women and subjected a third to prolonged abuse has been jailed for 10 years but continues to deny his guilt.

Cameron Ross att@cked his first two victims at different locations in the Stornoway area of the Isle of Lewis.

The 39-year-old assaulted one woman in 2012. The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Ross kissed her, touched her body and r@ped her.

Giving evidence, one of his r@pe victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the att@ck came after she met him at a party.

told the court that the policeman forced her to engage in sex with him, adding that she did not say anything and simply froze.

Ross was found guilty on r@pe and domestic abuse charges after a trial in Edinburgh earlier this year. Judge Alison Stirling deferred sentence until this week so she could obtain a report detailing his offending behaviour.

Observing proceedings via video link from jail, Ross was told by Judge Stirling that he was facing a lengthy stretch behind bars.

She said that given the serious nature of the offences of which he had been convicted, there was no other way of dealing with him than to impose custody, sentencing him to 10 years, with the reasons including punishment, deterrence and a need to show society's concern and disapproval for his offending.

The woman who was r@ped told the jury Ross had pinned her down on the bed and tried to force her to have sex with him.

She said she could not move at all, explaining that he moved his legs into a position where she was pinned down, with his full weight on her, adding that she could hear her heart beating and lost feeling.

She told the court how the att@ck left her traumatised, recalling that he said something to the effect that it felt so good she must have done it before.

Ross struck again, att@cking a second woman on the Hebridean island in June 2014.

During the assault, he sat on her, restrained her and carried out a serious sexual assault on the victim.

The policeman went on to subject a third woman to a course of abusive behaviour between October 1, 2019 and June 8, 2022 at addresses in Inverness.

During the abuse, he repeatedly pushed and pulled the woman, seized her by the body and hair, threw her to the ground and twisted her arm behind her back.

He also brandished a knife at her, shouted, swore and threatened to k!ll her, punched her in the face, gripped her throat and pressed down on the back of her neck, restricting her breathing.

Ross, who was suspended from service in June 2022 and only resigned from Police Scotland earlier this month, was also convicted of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on June 5, 2022 at an address in the Highland capital, where he shouted, swore and acted aggressively.

He also attempted to pervert the course of justice on that date by repeatedly trying to speak to a woman who was providing a witness statement to a police officer.

Ross, who has no previous convictions, had denied the charges during the trial but was convicted of all the offences by a jury. He was placed on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life at the end of proceedings last month.

Defence advocate Mark Stewart KC told the court that his client maintained he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Explaining that Ross had previously enjoyed a successful career as a police officer, he noted that Ross had obtained rapid promotion due to his effectiveness in the role and had reached the rank of sergeant.

Mr Stewart said Ross had since resigned from the police and was a father of two, including a child with special needs, and had been instrumental in securing help for that child.

He added that Ross maintains the position he held at trial, understanding and respecting the jury's verdict without accepting it, and that he understood a period of imprisonment would result from the case.

Following the sentencing, Faye Cook, Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offences at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said Cameron Ross carried out deliberate and repeated acts of abuse against women over the course of a decade, describing it as sustained offending that caused significant harm.

She noted that as a police officer, he was in a position of trust, but instead of upholding the law, he chose to break it in a serious and persistent way.

Chief Superintendent Helen Harrison, Head of Professional Standards, said Cameron Ross had been convicted of repeatedly abusing and sexually abusing women, noting that the force worked closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to achieve the outcome.

She said Ross was a serving officer at the time of the offences, and that he was immediately suspended when the report was received in June 2022.

She added that he has since resigned from the service, noting that had he remained, gross misconduct proceedings would have been progressed and he would have been dismissed, as such actions and behaviour will not be tolerated within Police Scotland.