A DUMBARTON man has been cleared of raping a 15-year-old girl at his flat in the town.
But Joseph Duffy or Melville was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of having under age sex with her.
He was accused of raping the schoolgirl at the property in Bellsmyre on March 16, 2019.
The jury found him not guilty of that charge.
The girl stated in evidence that Duffy “grabbed me over the couch” before having sex with her despite asking him to stop.
READ MORE: Dumbarton man denies raping girl of 15 – and insists any sex was 'consensual'
She added: “He said if I told friends about this, he would get the jail and he said he had a machete.”
But Duffy told the court the girl had told him she was 19. In evidence he said the sex was consensual and had been brought upon by her.
Judge Andrew Cubie deferred sentence on Duffy until next month for background reports.
Duffy, an unemployed landscaper who has 35 previous convictions for drugs and crimes of dishonesty, was told he would be put on the sex offenders register on an interim basis until he is sentenced.
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