A BURNLEY man who made his under-age lover pregnant, which triggered an abortion, has been jailed for 40 months.

Shaun Wilkinson, 23, had been adamant he was not going to sleep with the youngster, with whom he shared an ‘intense relationship’, Burnley Crown Court was told.

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But shortly after her 15th birthday, the couple had sex in her mother’s bed and then slept together regularly over the next few weeks, the court heard.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, said that no contraception was used during their sexual encounters and this resulted in the girl becoming pregnant and having a termination.

The court heard that the relationship between the couple continued even after Wilkinson was served with an ‘abduction notice’, warning him against seeing the under-age girl.

Wilkinson, of Venice Avenue, admitted sexual activity with a child. He must now sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

Mr Parker said that Wilkinson had been a family friend of the teenage victim and their contact had began after they shared Facebook messages. The couple had talked about sex but the defendant was insistent initially that he would only sleep with the girl when she turned 16.

But one night after watching TV together, the girl said that they ‘both wanted’ to have sex, and it was not forced on her, the court heard. She estimated that they had slept together around 20 times, usually in her mother’s bedroom. The girl claimed she had tried to keep the mother in the dark about the affair.

The relationship only came to light when the girl made an allegation of assault against Wilkinson, later withdrawn, and police pressed her to clarify their situation, a judge was told.

Kath Johnson, defending, said Wilkinson had not used contraception because he believed that the girl was already sexually active and was taking her own precautions at the time.The girl had two previous sexual partners, and had been pregnant and had one previous abortion, unrelated to the current proceedings.

Judge Beverley Lunt said: “I accept that there was no force, no coercion, or no grooming but you plainly took advantage of this girl’s affection for you.”