Sheffield man raped 12-year-old after meeting her on adult dating site
The child Lenehan raped claimed to be 19 throughout
A Sheffield man raped a 12-year-old girl after meeting her on an adults’ dating forum, on which she claimed to be 19.
Kern Lenehan previously admitted two counts of rape of a child under 13, along with a charge of making indecent images of a child in relation to a video capturing one of the incidents.
Judge Peter Hampton has previously ruled that while Lenehan, now 23, may not have believed the complainant to be as young as 12, he also did not believe her to be 16 or over.
Lenehan, concluded Judge Hampton, “turned a blind eye,” to the complainant’s age in order to have sex with her.
The complainant did give her “ostensible” consent to having sex with Lenehan, however children under 13 cannot legally consent to any form of sexual activity.
Prosecutor Andrew Bailey said Lenehan, of Watch Street, Woodhouse, Sheffield, and the complainant met over an adults dating website, and also communicated over the social media platform, Discord.
Mr Bailey told a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held on October 1, 2026 that the complainant purported to be 19 and a college student - both on her profile and in conversations with Lenehan; but became “evasive” when he asked for information about her life and what she was studying.
He said the instances of rape, committed over three separate occasions, occurred in a tent near to the complainant’s Doncaster home.
The video of one of the rapes was taken by Lenehan on the complainant’s phone, and she later went on to send the video to him, the hearing heard.
On one of the occasions they met, the complainant told Lenehan she needed to return home for 8.30pm, and claimed this was because she had religious parents.
Lenehan subsequently admitted that he did not challenge the complainant over her curfew or hesitance around discussing being at college.
His criminality was brought to light after the complainant’s brother checked her Snapchat social media account, and sent Lenahan messages asking why he was messaging a 12-year-old girl.
Lenehan subsequently ended things with the complainant, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity.
In a statement read to the court, the complainant’s mother said her daughter “struggles significantly” in the wake of Lenehan’s offending.
“I feel she has been robbed of her childhood,” she added.
Defending, Ishaq Usama told the court that Lenehan was only 19 at time of the offences, was, and remains, “emotionally immature.”
He referred Judge Hampton to character references submitted on his behalf, reminded him of Lenehan’s clean criminal record - prior to these offences - and argued this was not a case involving grooming, force, or the threat of force.
Judge Hampton told the hearing this is a “difficult sentencing exercise,” and adjourned the hearing until October 2 to give him more time to consider matters.
Women in the public gallery sobbed as Judge Hampton told Lenehan he would be remanded into custody.
Judge Hampton told Lenehan: “The inevitable sentence is a custodial one, the only thing to consider is how long.”