Sunderland Player Released After Pleading Guilty To Sexual Activity With A Child

A day after Sunderland winger Adam Johnson pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl, the club has reportedly terminated Johnson’s contract:

Johnson’s behavior first came to light a year ago, when police arrested on suspicion of having sex with the 15 year old in question.

In court yesterday, Johnson did plead guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one other count of grooming the victim. From the :

Johnson is accused of grooming the teenager between 30 December 2014 and 26 February 2015 and having met with her to carry out sexual activity knowing that she was under 16, the age of consent. Standing in the dock, Johnson answered “guilty”.

In a second count, Johnson is charged with intentionally touching the complainant in a sexual way knowing that she was under 16. He briefly consulted his legal team before answering “guilty, yeah”.

While Johnson has pleaded guilty to two of the charges, he is still facing two more counts of sexual activity with a child and is set to stand trial on those charges starting Friday.

[ BBC | Guardian]

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