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Former Sunderland Striker Adam Johnson Found Guilty on One Charge of Sexual Activity with a Child

Former Sunderland striker found guilty on one of two charges of sexual activity with a child and could face 10 years in jail.

Adam Johnson signed sex offenders register on 10 February after pleading guilty to two child sex offences pic.twitter.com/ohnUtOe1v1
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) March 2, 2016

The jury has reached a verdict in Adam Johnson's trial for sexual activity with a child and they have found him guilty on one of two counts. Earlier, the former Sunderland striker had pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child relative to his interactions with a 15-year-old fan—one count of kissing and touching the girl and one count of grooming. Today's verdict reflects the decision on the remaining charges. Johnson was found not guilty of having received oral sex from the girl and was found guilty of digitally penetrating her.

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The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for nine hours and 42 minutes after which they found Johnson guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child.
They returned with a majority of 10-2 after failing to reach a unanimous verdict.
The jurors convicted the 28-year-old just half an hour after acquitting him on a further count of sexual activity with a child.

Johnson was released on bail and will be sentenced in two to three weeks. According to reports from inside the courtroom, the judge presiding over the case told Johnson, "There is a high probability of a significant custodial sentence," meaning Johnson could be going to jail for a long time. He could be looking at a minimum of four years in prison, and a maximum of ten. Johnson's attorney has already said they will be appealing the verdict.

Almost immediately following the verdict, Sunderland released a statement claiming they were not aware Johnson intended to plead guilty to the lesser charges, and refuting claims that they influenced his decision to do so in order to get him back on the pitch:

The club did not give evidence either for the prosecution or the defence in this case. It was therefore not present in court when it is understood that a suggestion was made that the club knew all along that Mr. Johnson was intending to change his plea just before trial to enable him to continue to play football for the club and that the club may also have been involved in tactical discussions about the plea. This is utterly without foundation and is refuted in the strongest possible terms. The club never placed any pressure or demands on Mr. Johnson to play football during this process. Decisions in relation to the pleas and the conduct of the trial have been left entirely to Mr. Johnson and his highly experienced and skilled legal team. Mr. Johnson has admitted in evidence that he changed his plea "on legal advice".

Sunderland also stated that had they known he would be pleading guilty at the outset, and not found out on the first day of the trial, they would have released him immediately.

Update: The victim has released a statement following the verdict in which she recounts the ordeal and how it's affected her life. She discusses how she felt like no one believed her, how she felt used and discarded by her idol and how she still can't stop herself from crying. "I've felt broken," she says. The image on the left is the first portion of the statement, with the remainder on the left.

Powerful statement from Adam Johnson's victim pic.twitter.com/o9HpzcaQAY
— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) March 2, 2016