Man jailed for sex with 14-year-old girl

Mar 4 2010 by Debbie Hall, West Lothian Courier

A MAN who had sex with a 14-year-old schoolgirl has been jailed.

Barry Wood (24) from Millbank Square in Whitburn, was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of having sex with an underage girl, and lewd and libidinous behaviour.

He was jailed for 12 months last Thursday and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The girl’s mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said this week that her daughter was still traumatised by Wood’s crime, which happened in 2008.

She said the teenager took an overdose of pills on the night of the crime and is still afraid to be alone in her own home.

She said: “I just want people to know what he did, he told so many lies about my daughter to people and about why he was going to court.

“My daughter has been devastated and has needed counselling, we all have, but in the end she was just glad that she was believed by the jury and he was found guilty.”

The woman said that Wood had befriended her daughter, but as far as she was concerned he had “groomed” her for sex.

She continued: “While I feel sorry for his mother my primary concern is my daughter and I am glad about the sentence he got because he is not a nice person.

“My daughter went through turmoil and while him going to prison is never going to help, she is relieved that it’s all over.”

She went on to say she was incredibly proud of her daughter and the way she conducted herself during the trial.

“I’ve never been more proud of her,” she said. “She only broke down once during the trial, despite the questions and the way they were asked by his defence.

“The time really never fits the crime, it’s so hard to get a result in cases like these. I believe it’s only around five per cent, so we feel it’s almost an achievement in a way and a fantastic result.”

The woman said her daughter is now looking to the future and wants to follow a career in social work.

She added: “I still find little notes that’s she’s written about how she’s feeling and she still gets flashbacks, which aren’t going to stop for a long time, but we’ve got a little bit of closure and we can try and move on.”