When Adam Johnson was initially charged with sexual activity with a minor last year, fingers were immediately pointed in the direction of his 15-year-old victim. Alongside the completely incorrect assumption that Johnson had met the young girl in an over-18 nightclub, there were also unsubstantiated accusations that she was out to ruin his career and to make a name for herself off his back. These accusations were made despite the girl retaining her anonymity, and even continued to occur after some particularly loathsome individuals shared her details online.
Now the girl has opened up about the heinous abuse she has suffered as a result of pressing charges against Johnson, revealing that as Johnson falsely promoted his own innocence until his trial last week, she has received rape threats and has been called “a liar, a slag and a little slut”.
Speaking via a video link during Johnson’s trial at the Bradford Crown Court, the girl added that she initially did not press charges regarding his more severe crimes because she did not want to ruin his career. After being asked whether she was still trying to protect him, she replied: “No, because he did nothing to protect me and he made me out to be a liar.” She added that she now “absolutely hated” the former Sunderland footballer.
She continued: “He told everyone he was innocent and he made people call me a liar. He let people cheer him on in matches and he let people call me all the names under the sun.”
Johnson continued to play for Sunderland as he awaited his trial this year, with him even having faced disciplinary action from the FA for celebrating too much after scoring against Newcastle last October.
“I have 100% told the truth about it. He knows for a fact he did it to me. He lied about the others for a year and now he has admitted it.
Discussing the backlash she has received as a result of the case, she said: “I’ve had thousands of people call me a liar, a slag and a little slut for a year. They say I was a silly little girl out to ruin a man’s career. Yes, I was a silly little girl but it’s not my career being ruined so I shouldn’t have been made to think that.”
She concluded: “I remember how hard it was to try and tell him and who it was with. I didn’t even know if my own dad was going to believe me. I was sorry that I had to go to the police, I didn’t want him to lose everything. I blamed myself.”
Johnson admitted to the court that he was guilty of one count of sexual activity with a child and one count of child grooming, though has denied two further charges of sexual activity.
