SEX with a 12-year-old girl in a public toilet led to custody and a lifetime on the Sex Offenders’ Register for a fairground worker.
Daniel Martin Cleverley, 20, of Prior’s Leaze Lane, Hambrook, West Sussex, admitted raping the girl at West Green, St Helens, on September 1 last year.
Although she agreed to sex it was considered rape in law because of the girl’s age, the court was told on Wednesday.
He was told she was 15 and during police interview he claimed he believed her to be 16, or 17, said Paul Dugdale, prosecuting.
"When told she was only 12 he got extremely upset because she seemed more mature than his current 19-year-old girlfriend," said Mr Dugdale.
For Cleverley, Peter Woodall said the girl had multiple previous sexual partners and lied to a subsequent man about her age in order to have sex with him.
"If he had known her age he would not have had intercourse with her. He was tricked," said Mr Woodall.
Sending Cleverley to a young offenders’ institution for two-and-a-half years, Judge Richard Hethering-ton told him custody was inevitable to protect other young girls.