The Sun Newspaper's former editor is convicted of breaching the Sexual Offences Act after publishing a pixilated picture of minor victim of the Sunderland Footballer, Adam Johnson on tabloid. Durham Constabulary carried out a prosecution against the former editor on which he was found guilty Monday.
According to the Guardian, David Dinsmore published the teen's photo from her social media account on Facebook after the arrest of the former Sunderland footballer, Adam Johnson. Johnson pleaded guilty on two charges and was cleared from the other one. The victim was 15 years old when she was involved with sexual activity with the footballer.
Dinsmore became the chief operating officer at the News UK, the newspaper's publisher in September 2015. He was found guilty of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 after his trial on Monday. According to Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, sexual offences victims are given a lifelong anonymity, Huffington Post reported.
Even the published photos were pixilated, and heavily edited, in order to conceal the girl's identity, it could still identifiable by people familiar with her Facebook profile. The act also prohibited media press to published sex offence victims' identification including, name, address, workplace or educational background, photos of the victim or any other detail that might lead to identification, Independent reported.
Judge Howard Riddle of Westminster magistrates court said he was satisfied that Dinsmore was not aware his violated the act. He was then ordered to pay a fine of £1,300 and a £1,000 for the damages for the victim's distressed.
News UK did not make any comment regarding Dinsmore trial. However, it was confirmed that Dinsmore apologised to the victim and would pay the compensation. Detective Inspector Aelfwynn Sampson, of Durham Constabulary said he was delighted with trial's result. "I hope today's result serves as reminder that anyone who identifies someone who may or may not be a victim of a sexual offence is committing a criminal act and we will take robust action," Sampson said.
