Youth spared detention for unlawful sex with a minor

Tuesday 20 March 2018

A 17-year-old teenage boy has been given a two year probation order by Guernsey's Royal Court, for having unlawful sex with a girl under 16.

The boy was 16 at the time the offence was committed, and while initially a charge of rape was bought against him, the court found him not guilty, but guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse.

When deciding a sentence for the charge, which the teen had pleaded guilty too, the court took into account the defendant's age compared to the claimant's, his lack of previous convictions - though he had had several referrals for assault and disorderly behaviour to the children's convenor - and also the situation in its entirety.

The claimant had said in her account that the act had been non-consensual, and she had tried to stop him, but the defence stood by the boy's statement that it had been consensual, and the claimant had actually started the sexual contact. He also claimed the girl had texted him following the incident saying her mother was telling her to say it was rape "even though she knew it was not", though that social media message had been deleted and not seen by the court.

The incident itself took place on a night where the claimant had been drinking heavily, reportedly having consumed 12 bottles of beer. In the very early hours of the morning, the claimant and the defendant met outside the defendant's house for a cigarette, before returning to his room. There they started kissing, before the intercourse took place. Afterwards, it was said they left the defendant's home together. 

Evidence confirmed there had been sexual intercourse, and the defendant argued that there was and it was consensual - he also said that despite the girl's drinking, she was in a  state of mind to consent. 

A report into the teen concluded unlike some, he had direction to his life, but that direction needed a great deal of support. The court hoped the probation order might assist in that. He was also given a two year notification period.

"In the future you will not keep on getting referrals for your disorderly behaviour - if you keep on committing offences you will go down," Judge Russell Finch said.

"And if you break this probation order, you will be re-sentenced, and if that does happen you will be treated in an entirely different way."