Adam Johnson Found Guilty of Sexual Activity with 15-Year-Old Girl

Former Sunderland star Adam Johnson has been found guilty of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

Josh Halliday of the Guardian reported the jury's decision Wednesday:

Johnson was cleared of an oral sex charge, per Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, but Halliday reported he was found guilty of a second charge for "penetrating the schoolgirl with his fingers." Halliday added:

The FA released a statement on the decision:

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Adam Johnson’s conduct in this case is to be condemned. Our thoughts are with the victim and her family as they look to rebuild their lives after this traumatic ordeal.

The FA’s safeguarding team spoke with the club in April 2015. Sunderland confirmed Adam Johnson did not have any roles with the club involving a position of trust with children and was not involved in their community schemes.

The FA now awaits the sentencing hearing and the final decision of the court in this matter. No further comment will be made on the case pending this hearing and decision.

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The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of grooming and one count of sexual activity with a child on the first day of the trial but refuted any sexual activity beyond kissing took place, per BBC.com.

On Tuesday, the jurors were asked to come to a verdict after two weeks of pleading.

According to BBC.com, Johnson and the girl, who was a Sunderland fan, exchanged phone numbers and sent 834 WhatsApp messages over the course of little more than a month, before meeting on January 17 of last year.

Johnson claimed he signed two shirts for her during a first meeting and kissed her during a second, on January 30, 2015. The prosecution maintained Johnson and the victim went further than that, while the defence called the victim a "proven liar who made up the other allegations."

After the verdict, Hope shared Johnson's mugshot from last year:

The 15-year-old girl provided a statement after the verdict, per Halliday:

Sunderland sacked Johnson when he pleaded guilty to the two counts on the first day of the trial, per BBC.com.

The Black Cats immediately released a statement suggesting Johnson would have been sacked earlier if he had made his guilty plea known before the trial began:

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The club did not give evidence either for the prosecution or the defence in this case. It was therefore not present in court when it is understood that a suggestion was made that the club knew all along that Mr. Johnson was intending to change his plea just before trial to enable him to continue to play football for the club and that the club may also have been involved in tactical discussions about the plea. This is utterly without foundation and is refuted in the strongest possible terms.

[...] The club only became aware of the change of plea, in relation to two of the four counts on the indictment, on the first day of the trial, after hearing it reported through the media. The club was not advised in advance that Mr. Johnson would plead guilty to any offence. Had the club known that Mr. Johnson intended to plead guilty to any of these charges, then his employment would have been terminated immediately.

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Following the guilty verdict, the judge will now come up with a sentence for Johnson, who could face up to 14 years in prison, according to the Daily Mirror's Jeremy Armstrong.