An ?underachieving? teenager who had sex with a 12-year-old girl in her mother?s bedroom was jailed for three months yesterday.

Deshun Dill, 18, of Farmstead Lane, Sandys, was given an 18-month prison term, with 15 months of it suspended, and a two-year probation order by Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons at Supreme Court.

The youth, who pleaded guilty to having carnal knowledge of a girl under 14, committed the offence after going to his victim?s home while her mother and grandmother were out on June 6, 2005. He had met the child three weeks before in Hamilton and they had exchanged phone numbers.

Prosecutor Cindy Clarke told the court that Dill and the girl went into her mother?s bedroom and began play fighting.

?The victim then laid on the bed and took off her clothes,? said Miss Clarke. ?The defendant then laid on top of the victim and began kissing her. The defendant then put on a condom and had sex with the victim.?

She said Dill climbed out of a bedroom window when the mother came home. ?When the victim?s mother came into the house and went to her bedroom, she noticed that the door was locked,? said Miss Clarke.

?Once the victim opened the door, her mother entered the bedroom and looked into the closet. Her mother then noticed the condom. When her mother went to pick it up, she noticed that it had semen in it.?

The court heard that the girl had since had counselling in order to ?feel better about herself?.

Dill admitted the offence to Police and told the court yesterday he was sorry for his ?immature actions?.

His lawyer Edward King described him as ?educationally an underachiever?.

?He spent the first 16 years of his life in the care of a foster mother,? said Mr. King. ?His physique is that of a 15 or 16-year-old boy. In his moment of weakness he allowed himself to do that which the law forbids.?

Dill, who appeared in court with a leg in plaster, seemed barely able to understand the sentence given to him by Mrs. Justice Simmons.

She asked him what the balance of the 18-month sentence would be if he went to Westgate Corrections Facility for three months and he was unable to work it out.

?You have a long way to go,? she said. ?I hope that you flourish. You are certainly to stay away from young girls. There are plenty of mature women out there who will do what you want. Make sure they are consenting.?

Dill will have to take part in a sex offenders? programme, submit to drug testing and stick to a 9.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. curfew on his release from prison.