A MUM today wept uncontrollably as she was cleared of knowingly having sex with a 14-year-old boy.
Teah Vincent, 32, had admitted she initiated sex with the teen at her Gloucestershire home but said she thought he was over 16.
The court heard the boy and a fourteen year old pal had been playing football near her home before the mum-of-three invited them in for a drink.
Jurors were told she had taken one of the boys upstairs to her bedroom where they had sex.
She told the court yesterday: “I’m sure he told me he was 16 and I felt he looked much older. It didn’t occur to me that he might be under age.
“He definitely didn’t tell me he was in Year Nine, or that he was only 14, before we had sex.”
Her defence told the jury: “Can you be sure he told her she was 14 before they had sex or had he lied about his age?
“You’d be hard pressed to find a young teenager who doesn’t wish they were a few years older.”
After just one hour and four minutes a jury of eight men and four women today found her not guilty of knowingly having sex with an under-age boy.
The mum burst into floods of tears, before she was discharged by Judge Ian Lawrie QC.
MUM CLEARED
The verdict came after the court heard the boy had given a false date of birth on his Facebook profile.
A screenshot was showed of the teen’s profile, with his date of birth set as 2000 – making him appear much older than his actual age.
The youth was recalled to the witness box and explained he had entered the false date of birth after being given a new phone for his 13th birthday.
He said he received a phone a week ahead of his birthday so “I put in a false date of birth because you have to be 13 to access Facebook. This was because I wanted to access games and other things straight away.
“I chose 2000 because 2001 or 2003 was ‘disorganised’. I forgot to change it when I got older.
“I have very little usage of Facebook as I mainly use it for games.
“I could have waited six days before I became 13 to register with Facebook, but I chose to be 16 almost 17, for Facebook purposes.”
You’d be hard pressed to find a young teenager who doesn’t wish they were a few years older.Catherine Flint
Pressed about what age he told Ms Vincent he was he said: “I definitely did not tell her I was 16 going on 17.”
Defence barrister Catherine Flint, in her final speech to the jury before they retired to consider their verdict, said “You have heard a lot about Ms Vincent’s behaviour on that Sunday.
“You may have formed a view that her behaviour was morally questionable.
“However your role is not to make moral judgements, but to decide if she broke the law.”
In his summing up to the jury before they retired to consider their verdict Judge Ian Lawrie QC told them “The issues in the case are straightforward. It comes down to the question of the boy’s age.
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