Coventry man who had sex with 14-year-old in wood pleads guilty

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Coventry man who had sex with 14-year-old in wood pleads guilty

Postby dutchman » Thu May 16, 2019 3:42 pm

A young man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl in a wood after ‘closing his mind’ to the fact that she might be under-age has been ordered to take part in a sex offender programme

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Daniel Hayes had originally denied a charge of sexual activity with a child, but changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial at Warwick Crown Court.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said she would have given him a 10-month suspended prison sentence – but that would not give time for him to complete a sex offender programme of up to 100 days.

So instead Hayes (21) of Larch Tree Avenue, Tile Hill, Coventry, was given a three-year community order with conditions of attending the programme and a rehabilitation activity, and was ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.

But the judge warned him: “If you breach this order, 10 months is the appropriate sentence which will be imposed.”

Judge de Bertodano told Hayes: “She was 14 years old, and you were aware it was likely she was under 16. She was also a child in care, and therefore vulnerable in another way.

“I accept you did not know that, but if you have sex with and under-16-year-old, it is a risk you take.

“She expresses a wish to meet you and have sex with you. To start with the requests all came from her, but towards the end you very foolishly agree to meet her in order to have sex.

“The reason this is a serious offence is because she was a child. If she was 16 you would not be committing any offence at all. But children of that age are protected for a reason, no matter how mature they seem.

“You were 19 at the time, not a child, but still a teenager, and you are rightly described as a somewhat lonely young man. I do take the view this was entirely out of character, and I also take into account your own vulnerabilities.”

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