A MAN who drove a 15-year-old girl to attempt suicide after he had sex with her in his car has avoided a further jail term after admitting he contacted his victim to apologise.

Christopher Paul Johnson was jailed for two years in 2008 after he had sex with the girl and took photographs of her naked.

Upon release, the 41-year-old from Ferryhill, County Durham, contacted the girl, who is from Northumberland, on social networking website Facebook.

Magistrates in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, yesterday heard he sent the teenager a message under the name Chris J that said: “I’m sorry for the s**t I put you through.”

Johnson also said he wanted closure and ended the message with hugs and kisses.

Hari Jandoo, prosecuting, said Johnson sent multiple messages, some making “sinister” reference to an axe and Jack Nicholson’s character in the horror movie The Shining. Johnson admitted harassing the girl between April and November last year.

Mr Jandoo said Johnson, of George Street, groomed the girl in a chatroom.

They met at the MetroCentre, in Gateshead, before he took her away in his car and had sex with her.

The court heard the teenager suffered from depression after the incident and tried to kill herself.

Mr Jandoo said she had 15 months of counselling, and that hearing from Johnson caused her to relive her trauma. She now fears for her safety.

The teenager said she feels Johnson is a threat to children on the internet and that she will always have difficulty forming romantic relationships.

In police interview, Johnson said he had no idea he had affected the teenager negatively and described her as a “happy, bubbly and forthcoming”

girl who “accepted what happened”.

Ian Bradshaw, in mitigation, said that at the time of the original offence, Johnson’s partner had just left him with their newborn child and he was “not in the best frame of mind”. He said: “The enormity of what he has done weighs upon him every waking moment.”

Mr Bradshaw said his client received no therapy in prison and would be better helped by working with the probation service rather than returning to jail.

Magistrates sentenced him to 24 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered him to complete a community order with two years supervision and a sexual offender programme.

He was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation and £250 costs and a restraining order was imposed, banning him from contacting his victim.