by Keith Hunt

A Salvation Army member has been jailed for seven years for having sex with an under-age teenage girl.

Carl Shelton, pictured, was said by a judge to still be in complete denial, despite being convicted on strong evidence.

The 44-year-old husband was found guilty in March of two charges of indecent assault, two of sexual activity with a child and one of indecency with a child. He was cleared of two indecent assault charges.

Judge Charles Macdonald QC said the relationship had been described as consensual - but the victim was under 16 and vulnerable to a mature adult.

He added: "It is why the Americans call this type of offence statutory rape."

Shelton, of Thong Lane, Gravesend, was banned from working with children under 16 and placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

* For the full story see this week's print edition of the Gravesend Messenger, out on Thursday.

• For more news from Gravesend and the surrounding area visit the Gravesend Messenger website >>>