Oresai
11-30-2008, 04:52 AM
Source, Daily Record online.
Fury as mum admits: I let my 14-year-old daughter have underage sex with 22-year-old boyfriend at home
Nov 28 2008 By Robert Fairburn
A MOTHER allowed her 14-year-old daughter to have sex with her boyfriend, aged 22, in the family home.
And last night as the man, Daniel Balfour, awaited sentence for underage sex, the mum defended her actions.
She claimed she was only "trying to protect" her daughter by allowing the sexual relationship.
When Balfour appeared in court, it emerged the woman, who cannot be named to prevent her daughter being identified, allowed him to stay at her house three or four times a week.
The revelations prompted an outcry from locals and politicians.
But the mother, from Eyemouth, Berwickshire, hit back: "Do you know what your 14-year-old daughter is doing? Well I do. You can't lock a 14-year-old in their room until they are 16.
"In an ideal world, we all try to protect our children and this is what I was trying to do.
"This is a young girl who met him and thinks she is in love.
"Tell me what I should do. I felt I was between a rock and a hard place."
The woman added she and the girl's father had tried to end the relationship when they discovered how old Balfour was.
But when their attempts failed and the pair carried on meeting secretly, she welcomed Balfour, from Berwick, into her home.
She said: "I would rather know where my daughter is and who she is with than have her running around the streets getting into trouble.
"As much as I didn't like the situation, I felt that by keeping them close, I could monitor the situation rather than them running away behind my back.
"If I felt my daughter was in any danger from this lad, I would have killed him myself."
Balfour, who was put on the sex offenders' register for five years, will be sentenced at Duns Sheriff Court in January.
On his internet social networking page, he describes himself as "engaged" and says he wants to spend the rest of his life with his young girlfriend.
He wrote: "We have been through a lot of s*** but amsure we will make it through."
Sheriff Kevin Drummond was told Balfour was allowed to stay at the girl's home three or four times a week for about six months.
Duncan McNeill, prosecuting, told the court the sexual relationship was "entirely consensual".
But it was discovered last month when the girl had a row with her mother and spoke to a teacher.
The teacher contacted social workers, who called in the police.
Balfour was traced and admitted the sexual relationship.
He was placed on police bail with the condition he was not to approach or contact the 14-year-old.
The court heard that Balfour had abided by this condition and has pledged not to have sex with her again until she is 16.
His lawyer Ross Dow added that the couple split up for a short time but when they got back together, the girl's mother endorsed the relationship by allowing Balfour to stay.
Politicians last night attacked the mother's decision.
South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame said: "This is completely outrageous.
"This girl is in need of care and protection from her mother's values, which appear to be upside down.
"The male has been dealt with by the court and rightly so. If he was 15, then it could perhaps be looked at another way but he is 22 and deserves to be punished.
"The issue here is the mother's consent to this and knowingly having asexual relationship in the house."
Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: "I find this woman's attitude astonishing.
"It is for her to influence and indeed control her daughter's behaviour. The girl is only 14.
"This is quite a depressing story where a parent has neglected her responsibility for the welfare of her child."
Fury as mum admits: I let my 14-year-old daughter have underage sex with 22-year-old boyfriend at home
Nov 28 2008 By Robert Fairburn
A MOTHER allowed her 14-year-old daughter to have sex with her boyfriend, aged 22, in the family home.
And last night as the man, Daniel Balfour, awaited sentence for underage sex, the mum defended her actions.
She claimed she was only "trying to protect" her daughter by allowing the sexual relationship.
When Balfour appeared in court, it emerged the woman, who cannot be named to prevent her daughter being identified, allowed him to stay at her house three or four times a week.
The revelations prompted an outcry from locals and politicians.
But the mother, from Eyemouth, Berwickshire, hit back: "Do you know what your 14-year-old daughter is doing? Well I do. You can't lock a 14-year-old in their room until they are 16.
"In an ideal world, we all try to protect our children and this is what I was trying to do.
"This is a young girl who met him and thinks she is in love.
"Tell me what I should do. I felt I was between a rock and a hard place."
The woman added she and the girl's father had tried to end the relationship when they discovered how old Balfour was.
But when their attempts failed and the pair carried on meeting secretly, she welcomed Balfour, from Berwick, into her home.
She said: "I would rather know where my daughter is and who she is with than have her running around the streets getting into trouble.
"As much as I didn't like the situation, I felt that by keeping them close, I could monitor the situation rather than them running away behind my back.
"If I felt my daughter was in any danger from this lad, I would have killed him myself."
Balfour, who was put on the sex offenders' register for five years, will be sentenced at Duns Sheriff Court in January.
On his internet social networking page, he describes himself as "engaged" and says he wants to spend the rest of his life with his young girlfriend.
He wrote: "We have been through a lot of s*** but amsure we will make it through."
Sheriff Kevin Drummond was told Balfour was allowed to stay at the girl's home three or four times a week for about six months.
Duncan McNeill, prosecuting, told the court the sexual relationship was "entirely consensual".
But it was discovered last month when the girl had a row with her mother and spoke to a teacher.
The teacher contacted social workers, who called in the police.
Balfour was traced and admitted the sexual relationship.
He was placed on police bail with the condition he was not to approach or contact the 14-year-old.
The court heard that Balfour had abided by this condition and has pledged not to have sex with her again until she is 16.
His lawyer Ross Dow added that the couple split up for a short time but when they got back together, the girl's mother endorsed the relationship by allowing Balfour to stay.
Politicians last night attacked the mother's decision.
South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame said: "This is completely outrageous.
"This girl is in need of care and protection from her mother's values, which appear to be upside down.
"The male has been dealt with by the court and rightly so. If he was 15, then it could perhaps be looked at another way but he is 22 and deserves to be punished.
"The issue here is the mother's consent to this and knowingly having asexual relationship in the house."
Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: "I find this woman's attitude astonishing.
"It is for her to influence and indeed control her daughter's behaviour. The girl is only 14.
"This is quite a depressing story where a parent has neglected her responsibility for the welfare of her child."