Name calling? Nice. I'm so glad you are keeping sight of the crime. He groomed a (just) 15 year old girl and has been found guilty (not sentenced yet though, so could be 5 years) of sexual activity. Exactly what sight of that do you have? There are different views on the sentencing, so please accept I have one that is different to yours without lowering to name calling. My view is this: in a case like this, there are no angles and no degrees of honesty. He knew what he was into. On a separate note, and this may not be what you are saying, but it is almost as though your post I responded suggested the Basingstoke sentencing was at the right level. I really hope that you don't believe that to be true. I believe our children should be protected and heavy sentencing should be part of that protection to 'hopefully' be a deterrent.
Maybe it's the "she pursued him" angle and so "got what she deserved". I taught in a secondary school for a few years. I saw young lads flirt with female staff and experienced young women flirt with male staff. We'd joke about it in the staff room BUT it was accepted that this was normal adolescent behaviour and it would be a total no-no to take it further. Those teachers who step over the line are rare. They are also pariahs within the profession. Equally I'm sure that pro footballers will be pursued by young women. I can't believe that in this day and age players are not aware that it needs to be a "look, laugh but don't touch" policy.
There is a big difference between meeting a flirty girl in a nightclub and finding out later that she is fifteen and pursuing a girl you know to be fifteen. He met her outside his football stadium and asked her age....I doubt she was being flirty...she was probably looking at him all star struck. He took advantage of a fan of his club....makes it even more shameful in my eyes. He can't even claim it was love....as a young teacher might. He didn't care about her at all. I think he will get nearer the five years than the ten though.
Yep that's what it boils down to at the end of the day, he knew her age and carried on grooming and then meeting her. That suggests he couldn't control himself to me and makes him a dangerous man who needs to be behind bars.
Without knowing his psychiatric background, I doubt he is addicted to young girls and likely to be a reoffender. I think he is arrogant, spoilt and bored. He may have tried again if he hadn't got caught, but doubt that he will do it again now. Do I believe his expressed sorrow about the girl? No...he was coached into saying that. He had plenty of opportunities to stop the pursuit of the girl....it went on for a long time. His GF is well shot of him....by the time he is out, she will have hopefully moved on and someone else will be bringing up his daughter.
I see your point and agree with the implication that, unchecked, it could become habitual (Savile started somewhere) but we can't allow the system to condemn him for potential future crimes. Not sure where the 10 year originated. Is this a maximum sentence permitted? If so, I would expect less.
Understandably there are a lot of emotional responses on here. I wonder how many would be able to be unemotional if on a jury and just consider the actual evidence. It's shows what a huge responsibility being on a jury is and I wonder if they manage to weed out the wholly emotion driven people. I hope that I would be able to be factual just in case it's the wrong person standing in the dock or it was lies, but I couldn't guarantee it. With regards to Johnson the judge will have to consider other sentences for similar crimes I would imagine. We might not think it's enough but I just checked and Stuart Hall only got 5 years.
If he is considered unlikely to re-offend then his sentence may be reduced/he will be eligible for early parole. I think!?
Yeah I think that's maximum, reckon it will be 4/5 personally. Not saying anything about future crimes was just making the point of how serious this is (in my opinion) and I think it's impossible to say about likeliness of re-offending. It's quite likely that he has an attraction to younger looking girls -can't remember the exact term* - and on this occasion he couldn't stop himself from acting on it? Will he control urges better in future? Impossible to say. *Ephebophilia
I wonder if the GF will take the child to visit him much. If the baby was older and knew him, I definitely would for the child's sake, but would you want to see someone you no longer love in a prison (with all the embarrassment that entails) with a small baby.
Sentincing in this country is a bit of a joke full stop to be honest though, it's where our justice system fails the most in my opinion. You see people getting longer sentences for dvd piracy than rape.
Having met a few 'sex offenders' professionally I can confirm the one thing they have in common is a sense of injustice and disregard for any damage their behaviour may have caused others. Even after quite intensive treatment over years they could be coached to speak platitudes but little evidence of regret or charge seemed present. This is how Stuart Hall seems to regard his situation now, all 'poor me'. Opinions will vary over whatever sentence AJ gets but remember quite rightly this crime is treated differenty to any other as you stay on the register and are restricted in work options forever. FWIW my own opinions have been formed though this experience of attempting to rehabilitate sex offenders, eventually refusing to take part in what was a dangerous masquerade of 'treatment'.
In truth it probably was her age that attracted him........the chance to pick a cherry etc. He took full advantage of his status. He has no excuses he is just a dirty young man. I expect that which ever prison he will be sent to there will be men there ready to do the same as he did in a way and no doubt he will lose his cherry too. They do so love child molesters and it will be no good him crying she wasn't a child as in the eyes of the law she was as he will be reminded.
Never been involved in treatment, but when I worked for a trade union I had to advise a few people who'd been picked up by the police and so endangering their ability to continue to work. Like you, I found my "porn merchants", as I unaffectionately dubbed them, were great on excuses and low on remorse. Give me an old fashioned shoplifter any day!
Best thing for football is if everybody just forgets he ever existed. Fair play to the FA for removing all of his pictures and everything from Wembley
On a slightly different tangent, many years ago I worked for a Training Company, under the control of Southampton City Council. Our client group were aged 16 - 23, but many were, for a multitude of reasons, considered to be "vulnerable young adults", and often had to be given similar consideration, as a minor, because of their vulnerable status. It transpired that one of our female trainers, was putting herself in a position that left her open to criticism, and she was eventually challenged by other clients in her training group. When she was taking them out on field trips, which weren't much more than a walk around town on most occasions, she would regularly walk hand in hand with the same young man. Some of her other clients identified this as improper, and one reported it to her parents, who brought it to the attention of the company. Staff discovered, simply by talking to the other clients, that the woman and the male client were exchanging private emails and that he would sometimes kiss her (on the cheek) goodbye. Because the woman was "a popular and respected" member of staff, with the management, and she was achieving her targets, the company held a meeting, and effectively swept this under the carpet. All other staff were furious, because we all felt she had abused her position, could potentially have been grooming him and had it become public knowledge, we all could have been tarred with the same brush. Male staff were doubly furious, because we all believed that had the trainer been male, and the client been female, he would have been suspended, and most probably sacked. The last I heard the woman was still working with young adults, participating in running a youth club, and aiming to become a social worker. As I say, this didn't happen with a minor, but the vulnerable status of the young adult (possibly 16/17) and her position of trust made this a very unsavoury occurrence.
He deserves what he gets. Why even bring up the Lolita film if you aren't comparing? If anything cases like this highlight how inconsistent other sentences are. Some judges are far too leniant in handing out sentences. In my opinion the system needs looking at and changed.
Sam Allardyce has said how let down the team feel as Johnson said he was fighting all the charges until just before the trial. I suppose they feel taken for mugs.
