Adam Johnson ought probably to abandon his appeal, lest the extreme pornography thing be revived in the event of that appeal's success. He is clearly not a nice man at all.
It is also worth revisiting the case of Caroline Berriman.
That 30-year-old Teaching Assistant, genuinely in a position of trust and responsibility, was convicted last year of having not only groomed a 15-year-old, but had full sexual intercourse with him between 50 and 80 times.
That ended only when she became pregnant and had an abortion.
She received a two-year suspended sentence, and 250 hours of community service. That was eventually increased on appeal, but still only to two years. She may expect to be released this year.
Meanwhile, I await the result of my Freedom of Information Request (thank you for some things, Tony Blair) about the sentences handed down to other 18-year-olds in the month that Andrew "Picard" Boeckman's 10-month sentence was suspended for 18 months.
Watch this space.
Watch this space.
Berriman got her daughter to call her victim "Dad". And then there was Jade Hatt, the 20-year-old babysitter who had penetrative sex with an 11-year-old boy in her care, the son of her former lover. No prison for her.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very important and courageous post. Keep up your vitally important work.
Oh, depend upon it.
DeleteJohnson should have got a slap on the wrist for what is a minor misdemeanour. This isn't child abuse or paedophilia, this is one year under the age of consent. This would be legal in France or Germany.
ReplyDeleteIn truth, both he and his accuser are victims of a legal system that demands we treat such a trivial offence as a major crime. It could all have been wrapped up in no time, gone no further than a magistrates court and ended with a fine.
No. Not at all. She was only one year below an age of consent that is too low, anyway. But he was far above it.
DeleteAnd I am not convinced about this "France and Germany" business. Not that it matters, but it does not seem to be the case that the age of consent is simply lower there. It is more complicated than that.