A view of Inner London Crown Court (Image: PA)
A 12-year-old girl raped by a teenage boy fell pregnant with his child, a court has heard. The assault happened in the stairwell of a block of flats.
The girl's mother told Inner London Crown Court her daughter was injured while giving birth (Image: PA)
The girl said in a Youth Court hearing she had initially consented to sex with the boy, but withdrew her consent during the sex, telling him to stop.
Due to the alleged assault, the youngster fell pregnant and gave birth in a bathroom before she was taken to hospital where the police became involved.
The boy, 15, from Romford, Essex, who had been wearing a balaclava, was arrested and it was confirmed he was the father of the child.
He spent seven months in custody, before walking free after the victim’s father found "incriminating" messages on her phone, which meant the boy’s guilty plea could no longer be accepted, according to the Mirror.
Prosecutor Usha Shergill said: "[The father] felt torn, but he felt it was right to disclose the messages, and both parties had behaved in an extremely silly way.
"The message was shown to [the victim] who did not remember sending the message, but confirmed she had not given her phone to anyone else."
The boy and girl had met on the online dating app, Clubhouse.
The girl's mother told Inner London Crown Court that due to her granddaughter's birth, her daughter was injured and needed surgery.
She told the court of the financial impact of taking six months off work to look after her granddaughter and described the threat of "shame" such a story could cause in her culture.
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Judge Kelleher said: "I must sentence you to a serious offence that you committed in February last year. You had sex with a girl who you had only just met and who was actually only 12-years-old. You were 15 at the time."
The judge added that the boy did not know the girl was under 13.
Judge Kelleher continued: "The prosecution accepts that is the case. Also she did not appear unwilling or refusing to consent to the sex that happened, but she was only 12-years-old and a child under 13 can't agree to have sex.
"It's against the law in all circumstances to have sex with a child that age. The result was very serious, in fact she became pregnant, and the very simple reason for that is you did not wear a condom.
"You told the Youth Offending Team that you did not like wearing condoms. That was in itself selfish and irresponsible, leaving aside the more serious fact you were having sex with such a young girl."
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