A babysitter who had sex with the 11-year-old boy she was watching won't face jail time after the boy's dad came to her defense in court on Monday.
Jade Hatt had sex with the unidentified minor in November 2014 — that much wasn't being argued — but the boy's father said the incident should be counted as a "notch on [his son's] belt," according to the Swindon Advertiser.
"He is sex mad," the boy's father said of his son in a statement in Swindon Crown Court, according to attorney Rob Ross. "He would have been fully up for this experience."
The presiding judge gave Hatt a six-month suspended jail sentence and banned her from having unsupervised contact with young boys for two years. Hatt will also have to register as a sex offender for seven years, according to the Daily Mail.
Judge Tim Mousley said to Hatt, "It was quite clear he was a mature 11-year-old and you were an immature 20-year-old so that narrows the arithmetic age gap between you."
The sentence was criticized by children's rights advocates including Britain's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
"The judge's comments in this case send out completely the wrong message and confirm a common view in society that the abuse of a young boy by a woman is somehow less serious than the abuse of a girl by a man," a statement from the NSPCCstated.
Clint Davis is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.
