July 2008

Three-year jail term for man who used 15-year-old girl as ‘sex toy’

AN under-age girl was encouraged to make late-night escapes from her home by a man who “used her as a sex toy”, a judge said.

Judge Andrew Hamilton then imposed a three-year prison sentence on Callum Johnston, putting him on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Johnston, 24, of Kean Place, Alvaston, admitted three counts of having sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 in March last year.

Derby Crown Court heard that he was living at a resettlement hostel in Allenton when he began a relationship with the girl, who was 15 at the time.

After taking off her clothes in the hostel, they had sex, said Dawn Pritchard, prosecuting. Johnston then said: “You’re only 15, aren’t you?”

Johnston encouraged her to get a phone and called it at about 12.30am one night while her mother was asleep.

“He persuaded her to sneak out of the house. She put on dark clothes, climbed out of the bedroom window and on to a conservatory. He met her and took her to his room in the hostel and they had something to eat.

“He removed her clothes and had sexual intercourse again,” said Miss Pritchard.

At about 4am, he walked her home and she climbed back indoors via the conservatory.

A few days later, he persuaded her to escape from her home again late at night for more sex.

“She described him this time as very drunk,” said Miss Pritchard.

On two occasions, Johnston used a condom but did not do so on the third occasion.

When the girl eventually got into trouble, she sent him a message.

“He texted her back to finish with her,” said Miss Pritchard.

Police officers asked the girl about the sexual intercourse and she told them she “didn’t say no” and “didn’t say yes”.

She liked Johnston, who suggested meeting once a month because their relationship “would last longer that way,” added Miss Pritchard.

Keith Raynor, defending, told the court: “It was not just a phone call for sex. He is not the young girl predator he seems.”

He said father-of-two Johnston was now in a “supportive relationship” with a woman and had turned her away from “depression into a confident, bubbly person.”

When asked about the offences, Johnston said: “I should have known better. I am to blame, no-one else.”

Mr Raynor suggested Johnston was an “immature 24-year-old and the victim a slightly more mature 15-year-old.”

The judge told Johnston: “You were just ringing up for sex effectively. You used her as a sex toy.”

Johnston was banned from working with children and must not be in the company of anyone under 18, unless they are with a parent or guardian.