October 2007 Perv jailed for fling with school girl A 32 year old pervert who had sexual relations with a school girl turned a “blind eye” to the fact she was only 15, a court heard on Monday. John Bowden, 32, of Arnfield Road, Adswood, befriended the girl when she was just 14 during the school holidays. But after she turned 15, he told her he loved her, had sex with her in a public place, in his home, and even told her he wanted her to have his children. The relationship carried on for several months until it was discovered when the girl’s mum grew suspicious of her daughter’s numerous sleepovers and challenged her, upon which she broke down and confessed everything. She told her mother she had felt pressured by Bowden to stay over. Adswood man Bowden, who denied ever using threatening behaviour during the relationship, was handed a two year prison sentence by a judge at Manchester Crown Court after admitting sexual activity with a child. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10, and banned from approaching or communicating with the girl or with other underage teenagers. Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Bowden met the girl during the summer school holidays, the pair quickly striking up what was described to the court as a “friendship”, where the girl would go round to his house and watch DVDs, at first with a friend. Bowden even cooked the girl a birthday tea when she turned 15, after which point the pair’s relationship turned sexual in nature. When he was arrested by police Bowden said he had turned a “blind eye” to the girl’s age, which the judge dismissed. Sentencing him, Judge Mushtaq Khokar said: “You were more than twice her age and you knew right from the word go that this relationship was wrong. “Young girls need to be protected not only from those who prey on them but also from themselves because of their age. They are not mature enough to make decisions. “That’s why the law makes it clear that people who commit offences of this nature have to go to prison.”