Wem man, 19, is jailed for sex with underage teenagers
A young man from Wem who had sex with two underage teenagers - making one of them pregnant - has been jailed for four years.
Liam Wood, 19, had a functioning age of a nine-to-12-year-old, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.
But Judge Jim Tindal told Wood, of Roden Villa, Newtown, Wem, who appeared in court by video link, that it was not an excuse for his behaviour.
“You are a man now not a child,” he said. “You took advantage of two vulnerable girls, you got one of them pregnant and you have to take responsibility for that.”
Wood admitted four charges of sexual activity with a teenager at an earlier hearing and on Monday was jailed for three years for the offences.
He also admitted two charges of sexual activity with another teenager for which he was jailed for a year to run consecutively.
He received a further six-month concurrent sentence for an unrelated offence of possessing an imitation firearm which he pointed at the driver of a car when he was passenger in another vehicle.
Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, said Wood told one girl that he would end the relationship if they did not have sex.
She fell pregnant and had a termination, saying in a victim impact statement: “I didn’t know what to do and I was scared.”
She said it had affected her whole life.
Mr Searle said that it was while Wood was on police bail having been interviewed by officers about the matter that he has sex with the other teenager.
Mr Paul Smith for Wood said his client also had ADHD. He added: “My client perceived he was in a proper relationship, a very immature and inexperienced relationship.”
He said custody while waiting for his sentence had been extremely difficult for Wood, who had been extensively bullied.
