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Original poster

Can't believe what Sky News reporter just said re child sex abuse victim of Adam Johnson

405 replies

ofuckit · 02/03/2016 23:01

Did anybody else see this? I'm horrified and a bit disturbed tbh.

The reporter was talking to an ex footballer about the case and said 'Do you think it's hard for people to understand how hard it is to deal with the temptations put in the way of footballers'.... 😟
The ex footballer responded in agreement with the reporter, saying how oh yes it's very hard for them, etc....

So we can assume from this that these men see children as 'temptations put in their way'?

i feel sick 😞

OP posts:
Dontlaugh · 03/03/2016 22:44

I am amazed at the women who have suffered from this assholes actions - his victim, his (ex?) partner, his young daughter in the future.
The fans abuse has been aimed at the victim, mainly. Ignorant, braying mob, and totally ridiculous abuse. Aimed at the wrong person, needless to say.
I read some horrific abuse online aimed at his partner, basically blaming her for staying with him because he was a high earner.
No mention of his predilection towards sexual activity with children. No mention of his abusing trust in underage female fans. No mention of his many other affairs (confirmed in court) presumably with consenting females.
He is a seriously damaged individual, who does not deserve support for his actions.
More so, his victims do not deserve blame for his actions either.

LilacSpunkMonkey · 03/03/2016 22:50

Fuck me, the victim blaming on this thread Angry

I've reported, I'm assuming others are reporting too? This has been going since yesterday.

Where the FUCK are HQ? What happened to We Believe You?

I'm guessing we have some 'newbies' amongst us, Child Abuser Adam Johnson fans, who have been busy searching for anywhere that might be having a go at him.

A huge FUCK YOU to anyone, anyone trying to put any blame on the child victim here. 100% of the blame lies with the Child Abuser Adam Johnson. 100%.

AuntieFlaubert · 03/03/2016 22:51

But let's remember that 3 days before his trial AJ threw his shirt into the Away end and signed autographs for children at the Liverpool game, he and whoever at the club that made the decision to keep him on needs to take responsibility for that and in my mind need to lose their jobs.

But the club needed the goals he could score and the income from the tickets sold.

Football is morally corrupt, controlled by money at all levels from FIFA right down to individual teams.

AyeAmarok · 03/03/2016 23:00

The boss of the club is a woman. She knew he had kissed the 15 year old and had apparently been shown the WhatsApp messages.

So she knew, and he was allowed back to play anyway. Especially disappointing that it was a woman, I know it shouldn't make a difference, but it does to me.

numberseventeen · 03/03/2016 23:02

auntie I won't claim to speak for any other Sunderland fans but I'd personally rather watch Conference football than to pay even an hours wage to him or anyone like him.

It's completely irrelevant compared to what his victim has suffered but this can and probably will seriously damage the clubs reputation. I feel like I've been duped, as do most fans I know and I'm angry that my season ticket payment has lined his pocket whilst our CEO has known the extent of his admissions,

As I said up thread I hope the young girl can recover some normality and look to the future, that's obviously the most important factor in this.

LilacSpunkMonkey · 03/03/2016 23:03

Football is not just corrupt it is worshipped in a completely unnatural and out of proportion way that is just ridiculous.

I work in a primary school and we have no less than 4 football games running at lunchtime. And God forbid we don't have it on for any reason. Apparently the boys (because it's all boys) 'can't cope' without it. So 60 children out of 700 have to be pandered to every day rather than be taught to occasionally suck it up because football is God.

When DD was at primary school they had no less than 6 football teams to accommodate all the boys who 'had' to play football. The girls in Y6 also wanted to play in matches but we're told they couldn't play with the boys (despite one of the girls being one of the best players in the school) so the PE teacher (male) offered to coach them each week and set up some matches. Double the amount needed for a team turned out and the teacher gave them one session of coaching and that was it. He didn't bother again because he was too busy with the boys.

It's this bullshit, starting in school, that gives some footballers the idea that they are more important than anyone else, especially 15 year old girls.

AyeAmarok · 03/03/2016 23:08

Also, not sure if this has been mentioned...

Regarding the age of consent and it being lower in other European countries - as I understand it, in Germany it's 14, but built into that lower AOC is a restriction on the age difference between the two.

So a 15 year old can have sex with her 17 year old boyfriend. But an adult can't. So an older (and therefore predatory) man cannot have sex with a 16 year old. So vulnerable teenagers actually get a bit more protection than they do here.

I think we should build something like that in to our laws. Although I wouldn't be keen to lower the AOC I don't think.

KenDoddsDadsDog · 03/03/2016 23:10

DD plays football at school , she's in year 1 now but has played every Friday afternoon with the KS1 mixed team . She also does football skills in an after school club and loves it.
We go to watch Sunderland ladies games , they are a great evening out .
NumberSeventeen - I remember , those were the days ! DiCanio for all his faults would not have tolerated this . Nor would Quinny.

emilybohemia · 03/03/2016 23:13

'No doubt this man was a fool who took advantage of a situation he shouldn't have. As with any such case there is such complexity and spectrums of grey that I don't think anyone is able to fully understand it outside of the two people involved'.

Pardon, Phalen?

Fool? I think you mean, criminal. Grey area my arse, she was a child and he broke the law.

AuntieFlaubert · 03/03/2016 23:28

auntie I won't claim to speak for any other Sunderland fans but I'd personally rather watch Conference football than to pay even an hours wage to him or anyone like him.

Of course, but the club management weren't thinking like you. They knew all about him and still carried on playing him until the bitter end. And a very bitter end it has turned out to be.

mimishimmi · 04/03/2016 00:22

That's disgusting... and not surprising..

BillSykesDog · 04/03/2016 00:32

I had a similar experience (except it went much further) with quite a famous footballer from one of the biggest clubs when I was the same age (15). I'm 37 now. I thought I was being very grown up and clever at the time, because I didn't have the capacity to understand the situation. I can see now that it definitely was abuse. It wasn't just me either, there were other girls the same age as me involved too.

Didn't report it, never will. I think this court process and Sunderland's behaviour has been appalling and I wouldn't be surprised if the actual process has damaged her more than the abuse did.

HelenaDove · 04/03/2016 00:38

Bill Thanks

HelenaDove · 04/03/2016 00:39

" I wouldn't be surprised if the actual process has damaged her more than the abuse did"

Ive been thinking exactly the same.

prh47bridge · 04/03/2016 01:09

They knew all about him and still carried on playing him until the bitter end

They knew he was accused. He told them he was going to plead not guilty. They took the view that he was innocent until proven guilty. As soon as he pleaded guilty they sacked him. Personally I think the club behaved correctly in this instance. I do not think people should be sacked the moment they are accused of something.

PalmerViolet · 04/03/2016 05:46

I do not think people should be sacked the moment they are accused of something

Nor does anyone else. However, they lifted the suspension they had put him once they found out about the whatsapp messages. Regardless of whether he was innocent or guilty, they should have continued his suspension.

imwithspud · 04/03/2016 06:52

I'm so sick of people saying that the 15 year old minor "knew what she was doing". What about the 28 year old man in the situation, the man who used his position of power and trust to manipulate a minor into doing things he knew were wrong? All whilst his pregnant girlfriend was at home, totally oblivious to any of it. He really is a vile specimen. She was groomed into thinking this was what she wanted. All she wanted was a signed shirt ffs.

I'm sick of the victim blaming. So what if she reciprocated, so what if she lapped up the attention? What 15 year old wouldn't be flattered by such attention from one of their idols? She didn't lead him on, she didn't seduce him. She is a child. He is a man, not a wild animal who is unable to control himself when a female (in this case, a child) shows him some attention. He is and should have showed some restraint, as soon as he knew her age he should have cut all contact.

I can't believe there are people out there who feel sorry for this slime ball. He is far from a victim. That poor girl will now have to live with what happened for the rest of her life, his daughter will grow up knowing what a disgusting pervert her daddy is, and his ex is now having to come to terms with the fact that she was taken for a complete mug. These are the real victims in all this, not that scum bucket child abuser Adam Johnson.

imwithspud · 04/03/2016 06:56

And I totally agree with the sentiment that if his victim were a boy, more people would be outraged. There certainly wouldn't be all these comments about how "he knew what he was doing".

It's disgusting regardless of the gender of his victim.

wherethewildthingis · 04/03/2016 07:08

I heard some twat of a woman ring into Jeremy Vine yesterday and say that "girls mature faster" and a fifteen year old girl is emotionally equivalent to a "young man of twenty eighth". JV shot her down in flames to be fair . The victim blaming and minimising around this offence has been sickening.

StealthPolarBear · 04/03/2016 07:26

I wonder if the caller has a poor grasp if basic arithmetic. 28 being almost twice 15.
Tattie pants I'd really appreciate an answer if you can.

AyeAmarok · 04/03/2016 07:49

They knew he was accused. He told them he was going to plead not guilty. They took the view that he was innocent until proven guilty.

But this isn't what happened.

They (the club) knew about the messages and that he had kissed her. He had admitted that in his police interview and he and the police told the club. The fact that he said he was going to plead not guilty shouldn't have mattered because the club knew the facts; that he had been messaging and meeting up with a child.

The fact that they are saying they thought he was going to plead Not Guilty gives me the impression that they thought "We know he did it, but he's a rich, white male so he'll probably get away with it, even though he's told us some of it is true. Therefore we'll keep playing him now as he'll be found not guilty and we need his goals".

So basically they knew he did it, but knew that rich men with good a good defence barrister get away with sexual crimes all the time, so figured that would happen again and he'd be able to play.

If a nurse admitted to her boss killing a patient, but said I'm going to plead not guilty because I think I will get away with it because nobody saw me and the police have no evidence. Would you say she should have her suspension lifted and be allowed to practice because she might get away with it?

ZanyMobster · 04/03/2016 07:52

There is no grey area in this, he knew she was underage from the beginning and from the messages reported he clearly groomed her. There was no confusion due to her being in a nightclub drinking and her telling his she was older, she wasn't chasing him and even if she was he knew her age all along. He is disgusting although not a paedophile based on the evidence and charges of this case!

I worked in a football club from 17 through to 26. I think this sort of behaviour is a lot more common than people are suggesting on here. I can think of maybe 1 or 2 players in a full squad that weren't cheaters and the male non footballing staff were mainly the same, many of the other were picking up girls all over the place regardless of ages, I am not sure it was as bad as the grooming in this case but they were very pushy with the girls and did not like it if they were turned down or asked to stop.

I started there on work experience from college and my original manager there grabbed me and tried to kiss me in a corridor one night, I turned him down and he wrote in my report for college that I dressed inappropriately Shock I was older than 15 but I actually believed I was in the wrong but as an adult I realise he was 100%.

AyeAmarok · 04/03/2016 07:59

TL:DR version

They took the view that he was innocent until proven guilty.

Is wrong.

They took the view that although he had admitted he'd done (some of) it and was guilty, he was going to lie and say not guilty, and so he might be found not guilty anyway.

Morally bankrupt.

WomanWithAltitude · 04/03/2016 08:02

Totally agree AyeAmarok.

They were happy to employ and publicly support a man they knew was both a child abuser and a liar (by pleading not guilty). Utters skidmarks.

Highsteaks · 04/03/2016 08:15

Football is morally corrupt, controlled by money at all levels from FIFA right down to individual teams.

Yep. It was the same with Ched Evans. If it hadn't been for the enormous backlash Sheff Utd would have taken him back in a heartbeat. They don't give a fuck what these blokes do off the pitch, as long as on the pitch they are scoring goals and lining the club's pockets. I would say the same about many (although not all) of the fans.

Cunts.