Adam Johnson found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child | Sentenced to six years

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Needham said:
Quoted before the delete
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Fair.

Anyway, on Johnson... 6 years might be a bit steep in comparison to other people commiting similar crimes... but I have a really hard time getting up in arms about it/finding any sympathy with how Johnson completely abused his position as a Premiership footballer.

The question isn't that 6 years is harsh IMO, it's that these other cases didn't get punished enough.
 
redmeister said:
Jeremy Forest, the school teacher, who ran off to France with his 15 year old student got 5.5 years!

This woman served no time for having sex with a 15 year old boy
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ed-15-year-old-boy-used-sexual-plaything.html

This teaching assistant had sex with a 15 year old boy and was spared jail

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/schoolboy-groomed-teaching-assistant-we-6536549


There is no doubt Johnson should be punished, but isn't 6 years very harsh and doesn't there seem to be huge inconsistency compared with other cases, especially those involving male victims?
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Don't forget this gem :D

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3260279/Babysitter-sex-11-year-old-escapes-jail.html

This one was more shocking to me. 11 years old! His dad should be looked at too imo. Still, it is the Daily Mail and i've read nothing else on it.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Fair.

Anyway, on Johnson... 6 years might be a bit steep in comparison to other people commiting similar crimes... but I have a really hard time getting up in arms about it/finding any sympathy with how Johnson completely abused his position as a Premiership footballer.

The question isn't that 6 years is harsh IMO, it's that these other cases didn't get punished enough.
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6 years isn't harsh ?
 
Long sentence, life ruined...great outcome.

now for his missus to divorce him into the ground and get most of his money.
 
duffer said:
Johnson spent months grooming her despite knowing she was a child. I think 6 years is about right.
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What you want to see is some consistency in sentencing. If Johnson gets six years, then so should everyone else convicted of the same crime. It's the fact that people often get less for rape that doesn't sit well here.
 
Mciahel Goodman said:
What you want to see is some consistency in sentencing. If Johnson gets six years, then so should everyone else convicted of the same crime. It's the fact that people often get less for rape that doesn't sit well here.
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Well yeah, but personally I'drather see those other people/offences get more time... not that Johnson should get less.
 
MThomas said:
Child...It's not like she's 10.

Teenager.
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You mean...
...tramp. Vixen. Leader-oner. Minx. Saucepot. Mani matrix. Illusionist. Whore. Jezebel. Proximinator. Slapper. Rouse-artist. Dog. Bike. Tinker bell. Wet one. slunt?
 
MThomas said:
Child...It's not like she's 10.

Teenager.
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I agree. There's something I find uneasy about the Law declaring this act illegal at 11.59 on the eve of her 16th birthday then legal 1 minute later. The person in question is the same and this girl clearly wasn't naive on the subject of sex prior to being of consent age. Ok so I've exaggerated to the extreme with the 11.59 example but to say he groomed a child, while correct according to the law I don't feel tells the whole story here.
 
MThomas said:
What i mean is what i wrote, which unless you have mental issues shouldn't be difficult to comprehend.

So good luck with that.
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I didn't have a point. I just wanted to type out those words.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Fair.

Anyway, on Johnson... 6 years might be a bit steep in comparison to other people commiting similar crimes... but I have a really hard time getting up in arms about it/finding any sympathy with how Johnson completely abused his position as a Premiership footballer.

The question isn't that 6 years is harsh IMO, it's that these other cases didn't get punished enough.
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So we should throw Peter Crouch in jail as well?

But in all seriousness, I think we need a bit of perspective here and not make out we are living in a puritanical society. The fact is the average person under the age of 24 in this country loses there virginity at 15. I'm not saying that excuses Johnson in anyway and he should most certainly go to prison. But the sentence does seem pretty long given the crime he committed. He had illegal activity with a girl who was under the legal age of consent, but still at the average age people of her generation are involved in sexual activity. So whilst he's definitely wrong, as he broke a law that is there for good reason, it would a stretch to make out as if we are all in shock at the thought of a 15 year old being sexually active or there being anything unusual about a 15 year old girl being encouraged to have sexual relations. I bet most of our forum members under the age of 21 lost their virginity before the were 16.

Again I stress that doesn't mean it's fair game to have sex with under age people and I'm not defending Johnson. I'm just saying the length of sentence seems very harsh and that we need to keep our level of outrage at what he did in perspective, using the social norms of our times. Whether we like it or not, the reality is, there is nothing unusual about a 15 year old doing those things. I'm not saying that to say it' okay that Johnson did what he did, but to highlight that if people are shocked and disgusted at the thought of a 15 year old being involved in sexual activity, then they are out of touch with reality. The issue is Johnsons age and he should be punished for it, but six years is a long time for such a crime in my opinion.
 
FujiVice said:
John Terry has caps all over the his little museum, but it doesnt look like there are loads of them. Seems as if you get them for the first, 10th, 20th etc. I imagine for something like a World Cup you get one for each game.
3196902000000578-3465808-image-m-7_1456503000642.jpg
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John Terry having a museum is a crime in itself.
 
ChrisNelson said:
I agree. There's something I find uneasy about the Law declaring this act illegal at 11.59 on the eve of her 16th birthday then legal 1 minute later. The person in question is the same and this girl clearly wasn't naive on the subject of sex prior to being of consent age. Ok so I've exaggerated to the extreme with the 11.59 example but to say he groomed a child, while correct according to the law I don't feel tells the whole story here.
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She had "only just turned 15" when Johnson began grooming her (according to the judge).

I agree that a person does not become wise and gown-up at the minute of their 16th birthday but there has to be a cut off somewhere.

He's a nonce, feck him.
 
MThomas said:
Child...It's not like she's 10.

Teenager.
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It's irrelevant. She's vulnerable;he's an adult who should know better. He would have had a lot of time to think about the consequences of getting involved with a young girl under the age of consent. It's not as if it's a 'new' phenomenon. There have been too many high profile cases of late of men and young girls/children.If that didn't ring alarm bells with him then he's either an idiot, a sociopathic narcissist or both.
 
redmeister said:
So we should throw Peter Crouch in jail as well?

But in all seriousness, I think we need a bit of perspective here and not make out we are living in a puritanical society. The fact is the average person under the age of 24 in this country loses there virginity at 15. I'm not saying that excuses Johnson in anyway and he should most certainly go to prison. But the sentence does seem pretty long given the crime he committed. He had illegal activity with a girl who was under the legal age of consent, but still at the average age people of her generation are involved in sexual activity. So whilst he's definitely wrong, as he broke a law that is there for good reason, it would a stretch to make out as if we are all in shock at the thought of a 15 year old being sexually active or there being anything unusual about a 15 year old girl being encouraged to have sexual relations. I bet most of our forum members under the age of 21 lost their virginity before the were 16.
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Problem is he ain't fifteen, or sixteen, or close. He's a lot older and in a position he was able to use to groom her. If he was a sixteen year old friend from school this wouldn't be a police matter.
 
ivaldo said:
Now that he's been sentenced, could someone explain to me why Johnson gets 6 years but Caroline Berriman (a teaching assistant who groomed and had sex with a 15 year old over 50 times) got away without a prison sentence? I'm not defending a Johnson in any way btw, just trying of understand why there is such a difference in the sentence.
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double-standards.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
It's irrelevant. She's vulnerable;he's an adult who should know better. He would have had a lot of time to think about the consequences of getting involved with a young girl under the age of consent. It's not as if it's a 'new' phenomenon. There have been too many high profile cases of late of men and young girls/children.If that didn't ring alarm bells with him then he's either an idiot, a sociopathic narcissist or both.
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It's not irrelevant that she's a teenager.

Britain has what, highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe

I'm sure none of them has any idea how that happened.

They know what sex is.
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Problem is he ain't fifteen, or sixteen, or close. He's a lot older and in a position he was able to use to groom her. If he was a sixteen year old friend from school this wouldn't be a police matter.
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That's why he should be punished and sent to prison.
 
MThomas said:
It's not irrelevant that she's a teenager.

Britain has what, highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe

I'm sure none of them has any idea how that happened.

They know what sex is.
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You're completely missing the point and using those stats just endorses what a twisted world we live in.

So what if we have the highest number of teenage pregnancies? BTW the rate has been steadily falling but there is still a great deal of educating to be done.It doesn't make it right.

I've no idea why you are defending anyone over this.
 
ChrisNelson said:
I agree. There's something I find uneasy about the Law declaring this act illegal at 11.59 on the eve of her 16th birthday then legal 1 minute later. The person in question is the same and this girl clearly wasn't naive on the subject of sex prior to being of consent age. Ok so I've exaggerated to the extreme with the 11.59 example but to say he groomed a child, while correct according to the law I don't feel tells the whole story here.
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Children (or whatever term of art you prefer) can't be assumed to know the nature and quality of their actions, even if their behaviour leads you to believe they have a certain level of maturity. The ability of people of that age to fully appreciate the future impact of present behaviour is, ordinarily, pretty limited.

The arbitrary drawing of a line at their 16th birthday is as necessary as speed limits, the amount of alcohol you can have in your system when driving, or even the amount of drugs you can possess before you're considered to have had them with the intent to supply.

Expecting a subjective, right-minded analysis to take account of all of these things before deciding culpability, or the extent of, is unwieldy, unrealistic and more likely to bring about greater injustices than those being complained of.
 
redmeister said:
So we should throw Peter Crouch in jail as well?

But in all seriousness, I think we need a bit of perspective here and not make out we are living in a puritanical society. The fact is the average person under the age of 24 in this country loses there virginity at 15. I'm not saying that excuses Johnson in anyway and he should most certainly go to prison. But the sentence does seem pretty long given the crime he committed. He had illegal activity with a girl who was under the legal age of consent, but still at the average age people of her generation are involved in sexual activity. So whilst he's definitely wrong, as he broke a law that is there for good reason, it would a stretch to make out as if we are all in shock at the thought of a 15 year old being sexually active or there being anything unusual about a 15 year old girl being encouraged to have sexual relations. I bet most of our forum members under the age of 21 lost their virginity before the were 16.

Again I stress that doesn't mean it's fair game to have sex with under age people and I'm not defending Johnson. I'm just saying the length of sentence seems very harsh and that we need to keep our level of outrage at what he did in perspective, using the social norms of our times. Whether we like it or not, the reality is, there is nothing unusual about a 15 year old doing those things. I'm not saying that to say it' okay that Johnson did what he did, but to highlight that if people are shocked and disgusted at the thought of a 15 year old being involved in sexual activity, then they are out of touch with reality. The issue is Johnsons age and he should be punished for it, but six years is a long time for such a crime in my opinion.
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I get what you're saying, but it's more being appalled at Johnson's conduct then the fact that 15 year olds are engaging in sexual activity. Ultimately, this is a man who used his position as a footballer for the club that she supports as a gateway to meet up with her (he offered her a signed shirt if I recall) and systematically groom/convince her to engage in sexual activities with him. If he had just met this girl in a club and shagged her, his punishment would be far less severe you'd have imagined.

But yeah, like I say, I'm really not in a position to think too deeply about this sort of thing. Personally, when I look back on me at 15, I see myself as a pretty stupid kid with a really shit haircut... at the time I'd probably have trusted myself with the worlds nuclear launch codes, but now I wouldn't have trust 15 year old me with a broom.
 
DiseaseOfTheAge said:
Problem is he ain't fifteen, or sixteen, or close. He's a lot older and in a position he was able to use to groom her. If he was a sixteen year old friend from school this wouldn't be a police matter.
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I don't think anyone believes that Johnson was justified in any way shape or form. I think the debate is the severity of the sentence given similar (and worse) cases have received less. The inconsistency is the issue and the fact that absolutely nothing has been done to correct the notion that he is a paedophile when the term only relates to a desire for prebubescent children.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Well yeah, but personally I'drather see those other people/offences get more time... not that Johnson should get less.
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I'd disagree, purely on the basis that I don't think prison sentences are very constructive. In this day and age I'd like to see us moving away from long custodial sentences in most instances. Apart form anything else, they are very expensive for the tax-payer (unless you're in America, and doing nicely out of de facto slave-labour under the guise of a penal system). I can't really see what positive effect the extra 4 years compared to, say, a 2 year sentence, has for anybody - the only cases when it makes sense to me are those when the offender is judged to be an ongoing risk if released.

But yeah, we do need consistency either way. 6 years is longer than a lot of people seem to get for the same crime, and for many crimes that I'd view as worse.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
I get what you're saying, but it's more being appalled at Johnson's conduct then the fact that 15 year olds are engaging in sexual activity. Ultimately, this is a man who used his position as a footballer for the club that she supports as a gateway to meet up with her (he offered her a signed shirt if I recall) and systematically groom/convince her to engage in sexual activities with him. If he had just met this girl in a club and shagged her, his punishment would be far less severe you'd have imagined.

But yeah, like I say, I'm really not in a position to think too deeply about this sort of thing. Personally, when I look back on me at 15, I see myself as a pretty stupid kid with a really shit haircut... at the time I'd probably have trusted myself with the worlds nuclear launch codes, but now I wouldn't have trust 15 year old me with a broom.
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The USA and Putin fit that bill to the letter
 
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