We will all have seen the story of Adam Johnson in the news recently. Apparently the stupid twat is facing up to 10 years prison for having sex with a 15-year-old girl. This got me thinking - I know LOADS of girls who were having sex with older chaps when I was at school - they used to drive up in their Mk1 Escorts and pick them up as they were leaving school - I know of at least 2 couples who ended up getting married and still are married today. There were also a few of the boys who were also having sex with older girls when I was at school. Now, without belittling or condoning in ANY way what Johnson did, a 10 year sentence in this case does seem excessive - considering some MURDERERS get less. In order for justice to be equal, I suppose I ought to shop everyone I remember who had sex before 16 - plus those 2 married couples - all now in their 40's - with kids of their own............?????
And the case is 'sexual touching' according to what I've read, and did not include them ever actually having sex. Not wishing to condone it in general or stick up for Adam Johnson who is clearly an idiot, but the length of the possible sentence is totally disproportionate to the crime. And she was 15....and was therefore hardly a child. She was well aware of what was going on.
And the stupid thing is, that as a fairly average EPL player, his career is in ruins because of this, and he's lost his £3m annual salary, partner and baby daughter as well.
Very sensitive issue - whilst I agree with you to a point Angelic in that 15 is old enough to be aware of what's going on, you have to draw the line somewhere and arguably that age is when girls are most vulnerable to things like this. Part of the point of 'grooming' is that she was coerced into it - HE was certainly old enough to know better (he even Googled the legal age of consent). We can comment more when the final sentence is decided, but I think it can be 99% guaranteed that he won't actually serve 10 years. In some ways it's a shame that he's ruined his career and pretty much his life also, but he has no-one to blame but himself.
Absolutely agree with everything you say here Nick. It just seems 'unbalanced' when you consider the Stephen Lawrence killers only got 4-5 years more for what they did.
age and time are merely concepts of sequence and duration .. unfortunately a line has to be drawn which does not always equate to fairness .... . just an average likely to satisfy the majority ... in this case 16 ... sex before 16 ...you tell me how many percent of 14 -16 year olds really get to their 17th birthday and can say " I have or I am saving myself for the right man"..if you say less than 30% you are being extremely naïve ... Yes the bloke was an idiot ...he was in the limelight.... but in the real world he is just one of many ... before the smombee culture, it used to be good old fashioned .. letters or notes emblazoned with SWALK EGYPT SIAM etc and a few sneaky "drinks ( woodpecker, good old natch etc at the local yooof club" was that attempts at courting or crude form of modern day grooming... in any case it was basically human instinct ..getting a leg over! as we used to say old enough b**** old enough to n*** modern day has a lot to answer for ..good and bad ..AJ same brush as JS or others ..well you answer that... was going to poll it but not tasteful
I totally agree that he as the adult has to take the rap for this as he should have known better. It is a very sensitive issue, but the Girl certainly played her part in his downfall.
Refreshing to see this topic actually. I was thinking exactly the same but was worried I'd get slated for it! When I heard he was guilty I thought he'd get around 6 months, but a minimum of 5 years for fingerblasting a girl who in 9 months would have been perfectly legal anyway seems a bit excessive. The Sun's headline is typical, '***** in his speedos' ffs. It's nowhere near *****philia but don't let the truth get in the way eh.
I will bet the person who came up with that title in the sun is the biggest hypocrite on the paper ..likely to have worn the T shirt ...... male or female
FFS .... he has admitted to grooming her She was a star struck girl just turned 15 & he was married man in his late 20s ... he was obviously only after one thing ... how is that her fault ?
Just like another recent footballer case he will probably get a "celebrity sentence" in order to publicise this offence. The role model issue will also be quoted Sentencing guidelines are http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/s9_sexual_activity_with_a_child/
Sounds like she wanted more than a football shirt signed. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...sex-trial-schoolgirl-evidence-second-day.html . These sort of cases are difficult to comment on as we can only believe what we are told but I guess if you play with fire...
I'll let Angelic respond directly, but as the author of this article, I was in NO WAY trying to suggest that the whole thing was anyone but Johnson's fault. What I was trying to point out is the similarity in sentence to that for murder - which I think is wrong.
Having been a star stuck 14 -15 year old girl .... the fact that I would have done anything to meet my footballing hero doesn't mean I would have realised that he would have just been wanting to use me for sex at that age I would have thought that he was making an effort to meet me because I was special & he was in love with me
Yet 9 months later it would all have been ok and all of these sensational headlines wouldn't exist. I am not condoning what Adam Johnson did by any means, but she ran the risk of meeting him in private and was certainly old enough to have figured out what the likely end game was going to be given the content of the texts they exchanged. He's a fool who has lost everything and serve him right, but the Girl was 15 going on 16 not 5.
even at 13 or 14 or 15 girls and boys have some modicum of "sense or responsibility" the fictional level, line in the sand of the above, is deemed to be 16 that magic second when there is a massive leap forward ... 15 years 11 months 30 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds to 16 years 0-0-0-0-0 no smoke without fire ... and loads of other quotes fill in the gaps ... the female in all animal life is set up to respond to the best suitor ... the male to ensure his bloodline is the one that gets carried forward ... "the animal instinct" OK certain species have evolved to only ever have 1 partner .. Swans for instance ..Ospreys I believe ... CERTAIN HUMANS will play around get married and then when their partner dies become "uninterested" ... The experience has probably caused a bigger scar on the girl than on AJ and in the mean time dozens have profited from it ....
He hasn't been given a 10 year sentencing & I very much doubt he will .... if he does I would agree it doesn't make sense in comparison to the murder of Stephen Lawrence - although wasn't the sentence lower because they were tried as juveniles
the question is, did that happen to you .. the approach that is, because if not you would be unable to know how it would have panned out ... people have an idea what they want or would do in a situation ..and when it happens it often goes out the window, and the opposite or something of a compromise is adopted .. sometimes you can put it down to insecurity, or lack of confidence .... No doubt AJ was up for anything ... but only the girl knew her true feeling /actions
The grooming process is where the adult (be they male or female) takes advantage of someone young or vulnerable for their own sexual gratification. If the victim didn't respond to whatever was on offer ... the grooming process would have failed.
