A SCHOOLGIRL was raped in a stairwell by a teenage boy and fell pregnant, a court heard.
The victim, 12, was attacked by the 15-year-old boy who wore a balaclava as he sexually assaulted her in a block of flats in London.
But the boy later walked free after seven months in custody after victim's father found "incriminating messages" on the girl's phone, Inner London Crown Court heard.
The pair had met through the on online chatroom app Clubhouse.
The girl became pregnant after being raped by the teenager and later gave birth in a bathroom.
Police were called by the hospital after she was admitted, at which point she revealed what had happened.
The defendant, from Romford,was arrested in October 2022 and a paternity test confirmed he was the father of the child.
During a subsequent hearing at Youth Court the girl claimed she had initially consented to sex but withdrawn that consent during sex. She claimed to have told the boy to "stop."
The defendant was remanded into custody in North London from December 9 2022, where he spent the last seven months.
However, the boy's guilty plea could not be accepted by the court after the girl's father found a message on her phone.
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Prosecuting Usha Shergill said: " [The victim's father] had received [her] phone and found incriminating messages.
"He felt torn but he felt it was right to disclose the messages, and both parties had behaved in an extremely silly way.
"The message was shown to [the victim] who did not remember sending the message but confirmed she not given her phone to anyone else."
Though the basis of plea was changed, the defendant still pleaded guilty to rape as a child under 13 cannot consent to sex in law.
The victim's mum told the court her daughter's birth had left her injured and in need of surgery.
She then spoke of the financial impact of losing six months of work to care for the baby, and the threat of "shame" it brought in her culture.
Judge Kelleher said: "I must sentence you to a serious offence that you committed in February last year. You had sex with a girl who you had only just met and who was actually only 12-years-old. You were 15 at the time.
"Safe for as this court approaches the case you did not know she was under 13.
"The prosecution accepts that is the case, also she did not appear unwilling or refusing to consent to the sex that happened, but she was only 12-years-old and a child under 13 cant agree to have sex.
"It's against the law in all circumstances to have sex with a child that age.
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"The result was very serious, in fact she became pregnant, and the very simple reason for that is you did not wear a condom.
"You told the Youth Offending Team that you did not like wearing condoms. That was in itself selfish and irresponsible, leaving aside the more serious fact you were having sex with such a young girl."
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