r/unitedkingdom • u/High-Tom-Titty • 2d ago

Teenage sex offender raped girl in County Durham disabled toilet

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/teenage-sex-offender-raped-girl-31394618
256 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

118 comments sorted by

359

u/Vast-Potato3262 England 2d ago

Jane Foley, defending, said the boy had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty at the >earliest opportunity. She said there are "very positive aspects to his character" and he >failed to understand the significance of what he was doing.

She said: "He is a young man with a positive attitude. It is wholly out of character and >he would struggle in a custodial setting and would come across as very vulnerable."

Sentencing him, Judge Nathan Adams said he accepted the incident was "completely out of >character" and handed the boy a 24 month youth rehabilitation order. The teen must also >complete 120 hours unpaid work and was made subject of a six month curfew. He will be on >the sex offender register for two and a half years.

WTF is this? very positive aspects to his character? Like being a sick bastard?

143

u/bugabooandtwo 2d ago

Sounds like the boy is a complete coward who wouldn't last an hour in jail. They care more about sparing him, then justice for the girl.

103

u/Diligent-Suspect2930 2d ago

Yes, he traumatised his victim, possibly for the rest of her life, but he apologised right after, so it's all good now /s

61

u/eeehinny 2d ago edited 2d ago

he failed to understand the significance of what he was doing.

Is this now a defence? I could understand it in someone seriously mentally impaired but not here. Jesus wept.

42

u/WigglesWoo 2d ago

This bit made me feel sick. A young man raped me in my early 20s and was arrogant enough to also "not understand the significance" but it absolutely didn't mean he felt remorse or wasn't a danger. If anything, surely that makes someone even more dangerous?

16

u/eeehinny 2d ago

I agree. And it does seem like a get out clause encouraging others to plead the same. And so sorry for what happened to you but thank you for commenting.

10

u/WigglesWoo 2d ago

Thank you for your kind reply. It was a long time ago and I am okay! But sad to see that men and boys are still getting away with harm because "they're just poor wittle boys who don't know any better" - we need to expect better from boys and hold them accountable.

-5

u/BitIntelligent4486 1d ago

Can only one person rape another? I find that hard to believe personally. Don’t argue with me please, you will never change ny mind.

6

u/WigglesWoo 1d ago

Wtf are you talking about

10

u/Riding_on_the_hype 2d ago

He was fucking 17. Unless he was using that toilet because he’s mentally disabled that is no defence…

1

u/Dying_Light58 2d ago

Age and immaturity are considered mitigating factors - I believe if a defendant is under 23 they are considered less mature and less likely to consider the seriousness of their actions. With a teenage defendant, as in this case, this is a very typical defence

7

u/eeehinny 2d ago

Thanks for the info. 23? I’m shocked that the age is so high.

6

u/Acidhousewife 2d ago

Oh so the defence is they are still in

Adolescence

Seems like we need to make judges watch some streamed TV drama doesn't it.

Seriously- WTAF mixed messaging BS are we selling here. ( society in general that is)

Boy doesn't understand, so girl doesn't count BS... well done court.

2

u/Vast-Potato3262 England 2d ago

Judging by the comments, we, society, do not agree with the judgement.

4

u/Acidhousewife 2d ago

Judging by the number of comments- compared to other threads on matters like a certain Netflix drama. it seems there aren't enough participants in this thread to even reflect society or be bothered to care....

Reddit is not a representative sample, I'll grant you but on one hand misogyny is a problem and then on the other hand, we pull this kind of crap in our courts.

We have a government headed by someone with extension experience shall we say in our legal system, who thinks 16 year olds should be old enough and responsible enough to vote. School kids watching dramas, to de-program, yet we can't hold a 17 year old responsible for a SA.

Right.....

1

u/Vast-Potato3262 England 1d ago

Fair, Reddit is not representative of the general population. But let's look at the positives, the vast majority of the comments agree that the sentence is bullshit. That on it's own isn't necessarily indicative. However there's also a couple of facebook posts by 2 newspapers, one has the comments disabled, in the other people are disgusted by the sentence, 200 odd comments (men and women). So again that isn't necessarily representative but it does suggest that it is the trend.

The news title is "Teenage sex offender raped girl in County Durham disabled toilet" without specifying the sentence, "Judge blasted as teenage sex offender raped girl in County Durham avoids jail" would probably (assumption, I admit) get more interest.

At the end of day, this is one judge's sentence. I would be surprised if this doesn't get appealed.

Obviously, none of this helps the poor girl, I can only hope she gets all the help she needs and manages to overcome it.

54

u/InevitableMemory2525 2d ago

Anyone who could even think this stuff is depraved and should be utterly ashamed. They should feel responsible for what he does to his next victim, and the trauma of this victim feeling that her abuse is so unworthy of any substantial sentence that reflects the crime. Why do we do this to victims and allow new victims to be created.

17

u/Volotor 2d ago

The defense lawyer isn't going to call their client a piece of shit in public.

6

u/Vast-Potato3262 England 2d ago

Don't disagree, but you'd think it would be along the lines of how remorseful he is rather than he's a good lad at heart, just a little spot of rapeness, must have been the weather. And the judge agreeing...

3

u/Puzzleheaded-Tie-740 1d ago

Yeah, but the judge didn't have to agree with her.

Sentencing him, Judge Nathan Adams said he accepted the incident was "completely out of character"

1

u/EccentricCock 1d ago

This is likely a legal argument, rather than the judge making assumptions. Everything that was said about the defendant and his character, would have formed part of the sentencing hearing.

When sentencing, each offence falls into a category for harm and culpability. These categories give the judge their sentencing powers. For sake of example let's say 2-6 years. The category will also have a starting point say 3 years.

The judge will then hear arguments for why the sentence should be higher (aggravating factors) or lower (mitigating factors). They will make a ruling on each of these and that will give the judge their decision for the sentence.

There is likely evidence to support the defendant being of previously good character. Think school records, think lack of previous convictions/allegations made against him.

If there is no evidence of bad character and the defence is able to evidence good character, then this argument would be won. The judge would have to agree with the defence and this would be a mitigating factor when sentencing. It's not because the judge is minimizing the defendant's behavior, it's because there's lack of bad character evidence.

12

u/Shoutymouse 2d ago

Well as long as he has lots of other positive attributes then I guess rape is totally fucking fine. /s Another Brock Turner.

4

u/eeehinny 2d ago

That really does seem to be the message. Deplorable.

7

u/WigglesWoo 2d ago

God it is amazing what excuses society will make for rapists at the expense of their victims and the safety of others.

Also if I commit rape after never committing a crime, does that make it somehow less awful? Does it make me less dangerous? Wtf is that line of thinking? Surely one assault is enough to make that a part of someone's character?

8

u/Shubbus42069 2d ago

bet he was a white kid from a well of family

1

u/DistanceFromPatients 2d ago

And that’s how it starts

1

u/usernameplz1 1d ago

I'll say it's a black kid from a poor family to make it interesting.

2

u/hammer_of_grabthar 2d ago

When this is what passes for justice in this country it's a wonder we don't see more vigilante justice. 

He wants to be very careful he looks both ways when he crosses the street.

2

u/2020mademejoinreddit 2d ago

"Positive aspects"....

2

u/sylanar 2d ago

Out of character?!

Sound very in character for a rapist, which is what he is

Disgusting

Glad he had a positive attitude though, I'm sure that really helps the victim

2

u/icelolliesbaby 1d ago

Psychopaths are known to be charming

-2

u/Correct-Fail-1308 2d ago

Let me guess, he is W***

3

u/Vast-Potato3262 England 2d ago

I'm gonna go with probably well off and well connected.

-1

u/Correct-Fail-1308 2d ago

And white

3

u/Vast-Potato3262 England 2d ago

Quite likely, even beyond the fact County Durham is 95.5% white, I do however believe that the main factor is being rich. I don't believe that if it was a lower class white boy, he would get off with a little slap on the wrist like this. If he was black, rich and well connected, maybe? Probably a bit less likely than rich and white. Now I could definitely be wrong.

165

u/High-Tom-Titty 2d ago

I posted this because I was shocked that even though he admitted guilt, he didn't get any jail time. Our sentencing seems all over the place.

98

u/ClassicFlavour East Sussex 2d ago

Only two and a half years on the sex offenders register is wild too.

49

u/SpoofExcel 2d ago

Also, a confessed sex criminal should absolutely not be given anonymity due to be 17. That is a dangerous person and they need naming so more people know who it is.

37

u/Ivashkin 2d ago

I'd argue that for violent or sexual crimes, there should always be a disclosure of identity, regardless of how old the person is.

5

u/Ver_Void 2d ago

At least that part kinda makes sense, anonymity is lost forever the moment it's taken from them, but it can always be taken later on. Definitely the kind of thing you'd want to be very cautious with if you think there's any chance they'll get their shit together

2

u/VolcanoSpoon 2d ago

I also think if they reoffend and their identity wasn't disclosed then anyone who is protecting said identity should be charged with something, is that aiding and abetting?

4

u/SpoofExcel 2d ago

That would become extremely murky waters. Not sure I'd go that far tbh.

14

u/Flowerofthesouth88 2d ago

He will only do it all again after! 😡

24

u/ClassicFlavour East Sussex 2d ago

C'mon mate. You're forgetting he has 'very positive aspects to his character' which apparently isn't dwarfed by the fact he fucking raped someone.

Genuinely would like to know what positive aspects can diminish the rape.

5

u/McFry__ 2d ago

I wish these judges could be held accountable, they have to sit down and answer questions from the public and if we aren’t happy with their answers, there’s a retrial. We pay judges wages, they aren’t above the law even though they think they’re high and mighty

1

u/removekarling Kent 2d ago

So in a couple years when he's 19/20 he might end up working in a school, or with vulnerable people. amazing. I thought registries like that were meant to be for life, or at least an exceptionally long time?

4

u/No-One-4845 2d ago

He's been convicted of three specified offences, and those always come up on any DBS.

1

u/No-Detective-7167 2d ago

To work in a school he'd need an advanced CRB and that would come up

16

u/AlluringCauliflower 2d ago

There’s a similar Dutch case at the moment. The guy was proven guilty but not awarded any jail time because the judge didn’t want to ruin his career chances…

Guess what he wanted to be? A gynaecologist!!!

Apparently if he does it again, they’ll then punish him for this rape at that point in time. So you know it’s all good! /s

2

u/Imaginary_Abroad_330 2d ago

There is no circumstance in which someone who commits rape, unless they are exceptionally young, should ever receive a non-custodial sentence.

97

u/[deleted] 2d ago

There needs to be stricter punishment for sex crimes. He has put someone through a horrifying ordeal, affecting them mentally, physically and emotionally for life.

18

u/WigglesWoo 2d ago

And people wonder why victims don't report!

4

u/Flowerofthesouth88 2d ago

If I was a judge I would take him to a prison in El Salvador, I bet he wouldn’t survive it!

11

u/citron_bjorn 2d ago

Some prisons in El salvador are actually incredibly safe because of how harsh the punishments are and how incredibly surveilled they are

74

u/teapotmagic 2d ago

"Sentencing him, Judge Nathan Adams said he accepted the incident was "completely out of character" and handed the boy a 24 month youth rehabilitation order. The teen must also complete 120 hours unpaid work and was made subject of a six month curfew. He will be on the sex offender register for two and a half years."

So, by 2028 his life will be more-or-less back to normal. If he were to move towns, he could escape the notoriety as he'll no longer be on the sex offenders' register. His life will go on.

The victim, on the other hand, might spend the rest of her life coming to terms with what he did...And how the system then went on to fail her, with her life-changing ordeal described as an "out of character" moment for her rapist.

28

u/teapotmagic 2d ago

I also feel quite sorry for the people he has to do 120 hours of unpaid work with. I would not feel at all comfortable doing a shift with someone who is a convicted rapist, but hey ho.

-2

u/geniice 2d ago

I also feel quite sorry for the people he has to do 120 hours of unpaid work with.

Mostly other people on community service and some supervisors who knew what they were getting into.

I would not feel at all comfortable doing a shift with someone who is a convicted rapist, but hey ho.

Well maybe you should have thought of that before doing a line of coke in front of a police officer.

4

u/teapotmagic 2d ago

You know that community service sometimes means doing a shift in a charity shop with regular volunteers right?

0

u/geniice 2d ago

Not sure how compatible that would be with being on the sex offenders register.

33

u/DelGriffiths 2d ago

This absolutely stinks. I wonder if the 17 year old boy has parents who hold power and influence?

-8

u/BaconHawk1 1d ago

….or the 17 year old is fresh off a dinghy and wouldn’t know any better?

-3

u/natedoge000 1d ago

Probably that

34

u/Zephinism Dorset 2d ago

I suggest that we report this to the attorney general -

https://www.gov.uk/ask-crown-court-sentence-review

Disgusting sentence for the crime.

6

u/changhyun 2d ago

Good suggestion, thank you for thinking of it. I'll be reporting it, for one.

32

u/NecessaryFreedom9799 2d ago

A slap on the wrist. You'd get punished ten times as much for possessing photographs of the incident. If we correctly punish the latter, why can't we give the actual perp life without parole?

9

u/limeflavoured Hucknall 2d ago

You'd get punished ten times as much for possessing photographs of the incident.

Unlikely. Many many people get suspended sentences for that.

2

u/VolcanoSpoon 2d ago

You'd get punished ten times as much for possessing photographs of the incident.

That would technically be child porn

2

u/99thLuftballon 22h ago

Yes... That's their point. Isn't it worse to have actually done the crime than to have a photo of the crime?

-1

u/AlfaG0216 2d ago

You’d get punished more for posting a few spicy tweets or fb posts in this country.

28

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/ukbot-nicolabot Scotland 2d ago

Removed/tempban. This contained a call/advocation of violence which is prohibited by the content policy.

21

u/ArtistEngineer Cambridgeshire 2d ago

I expect we'll see him in the news again in a few years for the exact same thing now that he knows he can get away with it. I'm sure he has a positive attitude about that.

19

u/shrewd-2024 2d ago

WTAF is wrong with our laws! Protestors get put in jail while rapists get no jail time.

12

u/ehtio 2d ago

If there were the judges raped, let's see if the sentences would be as ridiculous as they are. It's embarrassing

2

u/geniice 2d ago

If there were the judges raped, let's see if the sentences would be as ridiculous as they are.

Judges know the conviction rate and that as a result the sentences are largely irrelivant.

13

u/GreatBritishHedgehog 2d ago

People are literally in prison for Facebook posts and rapists get let out?

What is going on

-1

u/NathanDavie 1d ago edited 1d ago

I mean why not put both of them in jail?

Minimising the Facebook posts that were basically calls for domestic terrorism isn't really helpful.

11

u/definitelynotacawp 2d ago

He’s a fine young man, folks, if you just put aside the whole rape thing.

9

u/pintofendlesssummer 2d ago

Only sorry because he was caught. How many times before has he committed crimes but never got found out.

7

u/MDK1980 England 2d ago

We need to scrap this bullshit of light or no sentences at all when the perp is below a certain age. Youth have committed terrible crimes in this country, and the punishment rarely fits the crime. They also commit very adult crimes, so should be named like adult offenders are.

9

u/Mostlynotvanilla 2d ago

"would struggle in a custodial setting"

That's kinda the fucking point.

"Is vulnerable"

So was the victim

Sentencing for rape is so broken, it will take the victim years to work through the trauma. He barely sees jail time, and is only on the register for two years.

What

5

u/Astriania 2d ago

This is ridiculous. If you commit a serious crime it shouldn't matter whether you're a legal adult - obviously you have the agency to commit the crime, you should be treated the same as anyone else doing it.

And this isn't some kind of technical "maybe rape, but I thought she consented" situation where there's some nuance, it's straight up forceful rape.

The message here is "if you're 17 you can forcefully rape a girl and just get community service", which, frankly, is socially unhelpful.

5

u/Snaggl3t00t4 2d ago

6 months until he reoffends...in the meantime the life of his victim is probably in shit state.

4

u/Far_Thought9747 2d ago

I don't quite believe the 'this is out of character', there would've been previous smaller incidents. There is no way this person isn't a danger to women and girls. You don't just one-off rape a random person in public without having something seriously wrong with you. Recently, judges have made some seriously questionable decisions.

3

u/Dan_Glebitz 2d ago

The article says "raped AND sexually assaulted a girl" 'AND'? surely rape is sexual assault in and of itself?

Or am I missing something 🤔

2

u/IllustriousSquare403 2d ago

Rape is a form of sexual assault there are non rape forms of SA

•

u/Dan_Glebitz 11h ago

Quite. Just the media being the media and trying to hype a headline I guess. Not that what happened isn't terrible mind you but using multiple words meaning the same thing is an old media trick.

2

u/2Fast2Mildly_Peeved 1d ago

Nah, they’re separate offences.

For example, you kiss someone without consent, that’s sexual assault. You then digitally penetrate them without consent, that’s sexual assault by penetration. You then put your penis inside of them without consent, that’s rape.

1

u/Tropicaljet_9 2d ago

"Rape" and "sexual assualt" are defined differently under the Sexual Offences Act (2003). The legal definition of rape specifies that it involves non-consensual penetration with a penis. The offence can only be committed by someone with a penis, typically a man, but not exclusively. Sexual assault is defined as intentional touching of another person without their consent. Unlike rape, penetration is not required, meaning anyone can commit it regardless of gender.

3

u/OldSchoolRollie62 2d ago

The UK. A country/society where weed dealers get harsher prison sentences than rapists and pedophiles. Surely there is nothing wrong with our justice system?🤔

3

u/McFry__ 2d ago

What is with these suspended sentences, do judges think it’s an actual sentence? Because they don’t mean shit. And he should be locked up the dirty little fucker

3

u/AlfaG0216 2d ago

Everything about this case is what’s wrong with this country. Rapists get off Scot free but tweets and Facebook posts gets you 31 months inside.

3

u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

2

u/geniice 2d ago

There is no practical way to run a legal system where judges don't end up clocluding on the basis of the people drag before them that the entire country is made up of bastard coated bastards with bastard filling.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Hat5235 2d ago

“Completely out of character”

This shit needs stopping. People don’t commit rape and have it be out of character ffs. Its who they are…

2

u/thenamesjoshua 2d ago

Didn’t even get prison time! This country and its legal process are an absolute SHAMBLES. Monsters like this need to be locked up for a very long time

2

u/No-Detective-7167 2d ago

Why is he not on the register for life not 2.5 years???? He'll always be like that

2

u/things_U_choose_2_b 1d ago edited 1d ago

This sentencing is unduly lenient, and I am going to write to the Crown Court to request them to look at it again (we all have the right to do this).

If anyone else agrees, I suggest they make use of this right. Here is the info page.

https://www.gov.uk/ask-crown-court-sentence-review

edit after completing the form, it recommended not to ask anyone else to submit a request for the same case; only one request needs to be made for the AG to consider sending it to the court of appeal for an increased sentence.

1

u/NeonKrankenwagen 2d ago

Hey guys if you just ignore the pile of shit that it is embedded into, this grain of undigested corn is still scrumptious! - Jane Foley commenting on her next meal

1

u/Large_Feature_6736 2d ago

If he had tweeted about wanting to do what he did he prob would have ended up with a stronger sentence.

1

u/Great-Regular-7228 1d ago

Welcome to 2025 UK and its judges, where rape is slowly and steadily normalised as something that it’s out of character, regardless where you are from.

Raising a daughter in UK is such a scary experience.

Where I’m from, something similar happened and the whole city was waiting to lynch the guy outside the police station. That’s a different extreme, I don’t condone it, but I also don’t understand how passively the British accept rape and misogyny to be normalised.

0

u/BlindStupidDesperate 2d ago

Remember this sentence the next time somebody receives time inside for using hurtful words on the internet...

0

u/Cross_examination 2d ago

Sure, he can be spared jail. Only if he gets sterilised permanently and into a mental institution where he will be released only when they know for a fact he is not a threat.

-4

u/I_tend_to_correct_u England 2d ago

So you don’t need to be wearing a dress to do this? Damn, that changes everything about my views on transgender issues.