Jury told girl 'lured' Tuohy

Photo: Darren Robinson

Jack Tuohy

A FOOTBALL-MAD schoolgirl said to have been groomed for sex by an Oldham Athletic player, had in fact set out to lure him, it was suggested to a Manchester Crown Court jury.

The then 14-year old claims 21-year old Jack Tuohy invited her to become a friend on Facebook after meeting her at a soccer tournament in 2015.

It is alleged he went on to "pressurise and bully" the youngster into meeting him. Midfielder Tuohy who lives in Shaw, allegedly drove her to a car park where she gave him oral sex, and he sexually assaulted her.

Paul Hodgkinson, defending, suggested that it had been the girl herself who had invited him to become her friend on Facebook, after asking him to pose for a picture with her at the soccer tournament.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed she had not known who he was when she met him, but Mr Hodgkinson suggested she had known full well, having followed him on a social media website for months.

The complainant insisted she had told him she was only 14 at the time, but the jury at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told Tuohy had believed she had been 16.

Under cross-examination by video link, the girl admitted she had lied about her date of birth on Facebook, making it appear she was 17 instead of 14, and claimed to have been married. She also accepted her profile picture at the time showed her looking older than her years, wearing make-up, and pouting.

She claimed Tuohy contacted her on Facebook the same day she had asked him to pose for a picture, but Mr Hodgkinson questioned this, when she had not even told him her name. He suggested: "You made contact with him on Facebook, not the other way round!". She replied; "That's wrong."

The girl had claimed Tuohy asked her to send him a picture of her topless, and he had sent her a picture showing his genitals. No such pictures were found on seized mobile devices or computers.

She said she deleted certain images and messages because she had been scared of her parents seeing them.

Mr Hodgkinson told her: "I'm going to say you never told him your real age, you wanted to pretend you were older, and the reason was that you liked him, wanted to keep hold of him, and wanted him to be your boyfriend."

Tuohy denies meeting a child following sexual grooming, two counts of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.