Kieran Hamilton, 18, who reportedly groomed a teenager on Snapchat before raping and threatening to blackmail her has been jailed.
The player added the 14-year-old victim on Snapchat in December 2018 before convincing her to send him explicit pictures.
Hamilton, who was 17 at the time, used the same images shared with him as a leverage for blackmailing her and eventually forcing her over.
The victim reached out to the police and revealed that she felt she had to do what Hamilton wanted so he would not share the photos of her.
Kieran Hamilton, of Chesford Road, Luton, pleaded guilty of several counts of sexual assault including advances with a child and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
The trial was first held in April and he was found guilty of raping the girl in February 2019 and cleared of raping her in January.
Kieran Hamilton on the other hand scored a goal in his team’s 1-1 draw at Walthamstow the day after his conviction.
The victim shared her ordeal with the court. She revealed how the incident has left her feeling scared and anxious, and the impact the assault had had on her future.
The teenager said: “Right after it happened, I was scared of being alone, I’d cry if I was on my own, and I couldn’t sleep alone.”
“I felt anxious all the time, nauseous and I stopped eating, and I started getting suicidal thoughts.”
“I lost a lot of my friends, in school I would disassociate myself and I would not pay attention to my lessons.”
“I would blame myself a lot for what happened, because I feel like I could’ve stopped it.”
Alan Blake, the judge that sentenced Hamilton to five years in prison, said to the player that: “You displayed callous behaviour.”
“This was controlling and coercive behaviour to try and control two young teens. The fact you didn’t use physical force does not make it consensual – you knew she wasn’t giving genuine consent.”
“There was a significant level of harm experienced. Your messages portray manipulation and exploitation leaving the complainant feeling trapped.”
“Your attitude and behaviour make you a risk to young women.”
Hayley Carroll, a detective Constable from Bedfordshire Police’s cyber hub added: “Hamilton’s despicable and predatory behaviour saw him use explicit images as a means of controlling his victim for his own sexual gratification.”
“It is absolutely vile and completely wrong. We have a clear focus on tackling any perpetrators of violence against women and girls and putting them behind bars.”
“No matter when an offender abused or exploited you, we want to know about it. We will listen and put these people behind bars so they cannot hurt any one else.”
