Footballer Adam Johnson charged with sexual offences involving underage girl
An England footballer has been charged with three counts of sexual offenses with an underage girl and one offence of grooming.
27-year-old Adam Johnson had been under investigation ever since he was arrested on March 2. On Thursday, he was charged by Durham Police and has been asked to appear before magistrates in the town on May 20.
According to a police statement, the offences were alleged committed on a single victim between December 2014 and February this year.
Johnson, who has played for England 12 times, was temporarily suspended from his current club, Sunderland AFC following his arrest. After his bail was previously extended, Sunderland allowed him to return while the investigation continued.
Johnson’s alleged sexual activity is the latest in the UK that has witnessed a number of child sex scandals involving politicians, clergymen and media personalities. Some analysts say the case involving sportsman is just a tip of the iceberg.
“This footballer who has been charged with these charges of child abuse is not the first footballer in this country to face these kinds of charges. It happened on a number of occasions and they normally trot out the excuse that the young people looked older than they are when they had sex with them. But this issue, as we have discussed many times of the abuse of children, is indeed rife in this country”, Peter Saunders, founder of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) told Press TV.
Saunders added that apart from apprehending and imprisoning perpetrators, the British society needs to take other measures to minimize the alarming level of child sex abuse.
“What we have to do is we have to educate the society and also critically we have to educate our children, our little ones about issues so that they are able to better protect themselves. That’s not to do something that will destroy their innocence or scare them but simply from an early age children have to be made aware that if anybody touches them or makes them feel uncomfortable, then they must speak out and get help immediately”, he said.
Johnson was born in Sunderland and began his career at Middlesbrough FC before moving to Manchester City and then Sunderland in 2012. There was no immediate official response from Sunderland AFC after he was formally charged but Johnson seems certain to miss the rest of the season.
JAS/SKL
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