I wonder who this could be?

[Filo]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/england-footballer-arrested-over-underage-sex-allegations-10080723.html

[DonnyRed1992]

27 year old apparently and twitter thinks its Adam Johnson

[Jenny]

No doubt he will be named, found not guilty but his life end up in tatters.

[wilts rover]

The Daily Mirror knows

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/adam-johnson-arrested-sex-under-age-5260499

[Askern_reds]

doubt that Jenny remember g rix?

[acko]

might be showing my ignorance here but I would like to know,johnson being questioned regarding sexual activity with a 15 year old,rape or force hasn't been mentioned so we must assume its consentual.if found guilty will do time and be put on sexual register.what I have trouble with is there is a growing amount of girls at 15 and under getting pregnant by lads their own age but these lads or girls if consentual dont get charged with anything,so the question is at what age do lads stop becoming lads and become sexual preditors for the want of a better word and find theirselves charged and branded.be interested to know jennys perspective of this as a woman

[Askern_reds]

good point acko must say, but on the other side when are footballers going to realise they could be targets

[acko]

never will askern,but to be fair some don't know they are being used.not saying that in this case as in the rix case someone somewere stuck their oar in

[Askern_reds]

well this could become debatable? My youngen said if she's concented then he shouldn't be charged, like acko said how many under age pregnancys in the country and not one person charged

[DonnyNoel]

Without wanting to join the debate I would imagine the reason there is an age of consent is to recognise that whilst a person of any age can consent to sex, up to a certain age they most likely don't understand the full consequences of the act and when it's done by someone significantly older then it suggests one party manipulating the other.

That's my take on the reason the law exists, not any specific case.

[acko]

could well be right donnynoel but you don't have to be significantly older to be accused,again not talking about this case in general

[DonnyNoel]

could well be right donnynoel but you don't have to be significantly older to be accused,again not talking about this case in general

True, a 17 year old and a 15 year old make a plausible couple and it would be interesting to know how the law would react in that situation. Maybe, following my previous logic, the view would be that they also aren't fully aware of the full seriousness of the situation whereas someone in their 20s couldn't really hide behind that.

[RobTheRover]

What about 15 year old lads who have relationships with 16 year old girls?

[bpoolrover]

Acko it makes little difference if consensual yes he will get a lesser sentence but no matter what she is a child and if he has done it,it is wrong

[Askern_reds]

few points we don't know yet were did he meet her? Night club, wine bar, did he no her age,

[acko]

you misunderstood me bpool.i wasn't making a case for him my point was when does lads stop becoming lads,16,17,18,if they had been 15 year old having sex nothing would have been done

[IDM]

If the age of consent is 16, how can a 15 year old legally give consent, regardless of gender?

[Askern_reds]

well how many under 16 year old girls have got kids? and pregnant, so they must have given consent, touchy subject isn't it

[acko]

given what you say IDM why then is it only the male gets charged,and if they are caught out and get pregnant surely that's a crime also

[Scooter]

If a 27 year old has had sex with a 15 year old whether she has consented or not. That makes him a criminal and a nonce! Footballers can be targets but for those of you with teenage daughters imagine how you would react if a 27 year old was sniffing round your daughter

[Askern_reds]

as I pointed out earlier scooter did he no she was 15?

[Copps is Magic]

It's not a question of being a nonce or not. It's a question of living in a country as an individual and knowing the rules. The age of consent in Spain is 13, in many other European countries it is 14. Here it is 16.

All of these debates are secondary to this.

[Askern_reds]

true copps but what if she's lied about her age

[Copps is Magic]

true copps but what if she's lied about her age

I am not even going to speculate. She may have done, who knows. I am sure we are going to be subjected to months and months of this story in the press so it will all come out.

The point is, sleeping with a person below the age of consent is still against the law. There are no real extenuating circumstances.

[Askern_reds]

yes but if you don't no the age of the girl?

[Bentley Bullet]

It's not a question of being a nonce or not. It's a question of living in a country as an individual and knowing the rules. The age of consent in Spain is 13, in many other European countries it is 14. Here it is 16.

All of these debates are secondary to this.

So it is a legal issue more than a moral one?  As you stated, at the moment the legal age for consent in Spain is 12. Does that mean that we should regard them as a country full of paedophiles? In the U.S. the legal age is 18. Does that mean that they should regard us as a country full of paedophiles?

[Copps is Magic]

It's a moral issue of where you set the age of consent. I believe labour wanted to lower it a few years back.

The point I am making, is that once you set the rules, and pretty much every modern society in existence does so, you have to stick by them. That is where Adam Johnson has potentially dun f**ked up.

[bedale rover]

yes but if you don't no the age of the girl?

Caveat emptor!
Buyer beware
Or to put it another way ignorance is no defence

[southwestexile]

If a 27 year old woman has sex with a 15 year old boy then the same law stands as has been highlighted several times in the press in recent years - even when the boy has 'agreed' to sex

The point is that at 15 a person is not legally regarded as capable of fully understanding their actions and the consequences and therefore is not able to give consent

It could be seen as draconian as all people are able of differing levels of perception but laws just don't work that way, else, for example, we could all have individual speed limits when we drive.

Just saying like

[Bentley Bullet]

It's a moral issue of where you set the age of consent. I believe labour wanted to lower it a few years back.

The point I am making, is that once you set the rules, and pretty much every modern society in existence does so, you have to stick by them. That is where Adam Johnson has potentially dun f***ed up.

And I'm saying that the chances are that he's no more a 'nonce' than a person drinking alcohol at 17 years old is an alcoholic.