The former editor of the Sun newspaper has been convicted of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act after a pixelated photograph of the footballer Adam Johnson’s teenage victim was printed by the tabloid.

Johnson, 28, faces between five and 10 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child. The former Sunderland and England player admitted two other counts and was cleared of one further charge. The girl was 15 at the time of the sexual activity.

Durham constabulary launched a prosecution against David Dinsmore after the Sun published the photograph of the victim, taken from her Facebook page, following Johnson’s arrest last year.

Dinsmore, who was promoted to chief operating officer of the paper’s publisher, News UK, in September 2015, was found guilty of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 following a trial on Monday.

Under the legislation, victims are granted lifelong anonymity and the press is prohibited from publishing any details that might lead to identification. The judge ruled that, although the Sun had altered the photo to disguise the girl’s identity, it could have left her identifiable by people familiar with her Facebook profile.

Adam Johnson faces between five and 10 years in jail after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Getty Images

At Westminster magistrates court, Judge Howard Riddle said he was satisfied Dinsmore did not know he was committing an offence and ordered that he pay £1,300 costs and offer to pay £1,000 in compensation to the girl for any distress caused.

News UK did not comment on the day’s proceedings but confirmed that Dinsmore had apologised to the girl and would be happy to pay her compensation.

Riddle said: “It is right and it is indeed clear that there are no facial features identifiable from the photo, the hair colour has been disguised, the hair length has been changed, and the background to the photograph has been altered and indeed there have been other changes relating to, for example, clothing.

“Having heard from Mr Dinsmore I am satisfied that he took and the staff on the newspaper took steps that they thought complied with the law.”

DI Aelfwynn Sampson, of Durham constabulary, said after the ruling: “What Dinsmore did in the Sun was legally and morally wrong.



“As a victim of a sexual offence, the identity of this child should have been protected. Instead her picture, although pixelated, was plastered across a national tabloid. She was not fair game, she was a child who was groomed by a person in power for his own sexual gratification.”

Separately, Facebook has been forced to remove a page set up in support of an appeal for Johnson. Before it was taken down, it had received more than 1,000 likes.

Critical comments about the victim on the page, which featured a black and white photo of the player cuddling his baby daughter, led members of the public to complain to the social network.