I want more than a kiss, footballer told girl, 15
ADAM JOHNSON wanted to kiss and touch his 15-year-old accuser and was attracted to her, a court heard, as he admitted being “arrogant”.
The Premier League footballer, 28, told the jury that he was “probably” sexually aroused while he kissed the teenage girl in the back of his Range Rover last January.
Stacey Flounders, Johnson’s girlfriend and mother of his baby daughter, did not attend Bradford Crown Court yesterday for the seventh day of his trial.
The jury was read a series of messages between Johnson and the teenager in which they discussed what would happen at their next meeting. He asked her: “Am I only getting a kiss?” She replied: “Depends on what else you’re after.” He then said: “I dunno, it depends what you are up for … a little bit more than a kiss.” The teenager replied: “Like?” Johnson said: “A bit of feeling. Just see. No pressure. Lol.” He added: “Keep deleting our convos.”
Asked by his defence, Orlando Pownall QC, what he meant by “a bit of feeling”, Johnson said this was “stupidity from me”, adding: “I really regret writing that.” Johnson said that he had thought “there was a possibility” of touching the girl sexually at their next meeting. Asked if wanted to, he replied: “Yeah.”
He said he was “attracted” to the 15year-old. Asked if he wanted to kiss her, he said “yes”. Asked if he enjoyed kissing her, he replied “yes”.
Johnson said he felt “embarrassed” by the messages, which were “flirty” and “inappropriate”. He told the jury that since becoming a professional footballer, he had become arrogant.
Johnson, of Castle Eden, Co Durham, has admitted one charge of sexual activity with a child. He has also pleaded guilty to grooming the girl. But he denies two further counts of sexual activity with a child relating to the same incident.
The trial continues.