Footballer Adam Johnson has been jailed for six years for grooming and sexual activity with a girl aged 15.
Sentencing the ex-Sunderland player, Judge Jonathan Rose told him he had abused a position of trust and caused his victim “severe psychological harm”.The judge told Johnson, 28, he had engaged in sexual activity with her knowing she was under 16.Bradford Crown Court heard the sexual abuse happened in the footballer’s Range Rover last January.
Judge Rose told the footballer, who played 12 times for England, that the girl had “suffered threats and thousands of abusive remarks” on social media. In a victim impact statement read to court, the girl said she had been forced to endure thousands of malicious and slanderous remarks on social media and had been approached by a stranger asking about her relationship with the footballer.
She felt at risk going out and her schoolwork had suffered “massively”, the court was told.”I have entered many dark places over this 12-month period,” she said.”Ultimately, it was like I was being taunted as if to say he could do what he wants and get away with it.”
In another statement her mother said there “had been no winners” and defended the decision to report the matter to police in order to “protect other vulnerable children”.
She stressed the family had never sought financial gain.
England international
Johnson, who made the last of his 12 appearances for England in August 2012,was arrested in March 2015 and was initially suspended by Sunderland before returning to the team a fortnight later.
Sunderland, which had initially declined to comment on the grounds the case was ongoing, then chose to sack the midfielder last month in light of his guilty plea.
The club sought to clarify its stance, saying had it known that Johnson would plead guilty at any time it would have terminated his employment “immediately.”
“This has been an extremely difficult time for all involved,” Sunderland said in a statement on its website. “The victim and her family have endured an unimaginable ordeal in the last 12 months and we trust that they will now be allowed to move on with their lives without further intrusion or public scrutiny.“
The club’s chief executive Margaret Byrne resigned after it emerged she knew a year before the trial that Johnson had kissed the 15-year-old and sent explicit messages to her but allowed him to carry on playing.
Sportswear firm Adidas also confirmed to CNN last month that it had terminated its sponsorship deal with the player following his guilty plea.
Johnson began his career at Middlesbrough before moving to Manchester City and then to Sunderland. While playing for City between 2010 and 2012, Johnson won the Premier League title and the FA Cup
