NSPCC calls on law change as Adam Johnson appeals conviction

Johnson exchanged more than 800 messages with 15-year-old girl before meeting her – but this grooming is not against the law

Published 28th Feb 2017

The NSPCC is calling on the Government to urgently fix a flaw in the law that means grooming children before meeting them is still not illegal.

It comes as former Sunderland footballer Adam Johnson’s second appeal against his conviction and his sentence is heard at the Court of Appeal this week.

Johnson was convicted of meeting a 15-year-old girl after grooming her. But the grooming itself was not a crime at the time.

This week marks the two-year anniversary of the Government creating an anti-grooming law to make it illegal to send a sexual message to a child, but this law still has not been enacted.

Prior to meeting the teenager, Johnson exchanged more than 800 messages with her, which included WhatsApp messages saying he wanted ‘more than a kiss’ and to take her jeans off.

The NSPCC is calling on the Government to urgently fix this flaw in the law, to allow police to intervene at an earlier stage.

An NSPCC spokesperson said:

“You would think it would be illegal for an adult to send sexually explicit messages to a child. But the frightening fact is that it is not.

“This kind of message would be an offence if they were sent in Scotland, but in England and Wales police are still powerless to intervene because anti-sexting laws created two years ago have yet to be enacted.

“The Government’s delay in outlawing this kind of grooming is a disgrace. Justice Secretary Liz Truss must act with urgency to fix this flaw in the law and stop abuse before it starts.”