Adam Johnson case highlights 'flaw in law' says children's charity

The child protection charity, the NSPCC, said today that the case of the disgraced footballer Adam Johnson highlighted serious flaws in current laws concerning child abuse and grooming.

The former Sunderland player is serving a six year jail term jail for grooming and then engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old fan.

He will launch another appeal against his child sex conviction at the Appeal Court tomorrow (Tuesday).

His legal team will ask judges to allow him to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

Prior to meeting the teenager, Johnson exchanged more than 800 messages with her, which included WhatsApp messages saying he wanted ‘more than a kiss’, and then suggested an even more inappropriate act.

The NSPCC is calling on the Government to urgently fix what it calls a 'flaw in the law' which means grooming children before meeting them is still not illegal.

The charity argues that this change is needed to allow police to intervene at an earlier stage.