A teenager, who had children with two different underage girls, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Tuesday.

American-born Michael Keesee, 19, of Pink House Lane in Sandys, was charged with four counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of girls under age 14 between 2002 to 2003.

Keesee pleaded guilty to three of the charges in relation to a 13-year-old girl in 2002, while a jury found him guilty of having sex with another underage girl in 2003.

The girls cannot be named for legal reasons.

Summarising the offences to which Keesee pleaded guilty, Crown counsel Cindy Clarke said Keesee first met the 13-year-old in April, 2002.

For the next four months they saw each other every Saturday night outside her bedroom window until July, 2002, when she told him that she was pregnant.

?The defendant told the victim that he would figure out a solution to the problem,? Ms Clarke said. ?Approximately a week later, he attended the victim?s house and told her he would bring a young male to the house to have sex with her who was about her age, so that he would not get into trouble for having sex with her.

?The next Saturday, he brought a young man who he introduced as his ?cousin? to her house. The ?cousin? was introduced to the victim by the defendant. The cousin and the 13-year-old had sex, although Keesee returned before the ?cousin? was able to proceed with the full act of sexual intercourse,? Ms Clarke said.

After his friend left, Keesee had sex with the girl.

On November 9, 2002, Keesee and the girl?s family had a row and he told them their daughter was not as innocent as they thought she was.

The victim soon admitted to her parents that Keesee was her ?boyfriend? and on December 11, he was arrested.

However, Keesee told Police he only knew her as a friend and that he had never had sex with her because she was ?too young?.

Mark Pettingill said that his client?s conduct had been inappropriate.

?It was a Romeo and Juliet type of situation that took place outside a bedroom window,? Mr. Pettingill said. ?Many young lovers indulge in this type of behaviour... Overridden by hormonal instinct. He is just a young lad who wishes he had conducted himself differently... He is not a paedophile.?

But Chief Justice Richard Ground interjected that Keesee had ?two illegitimate children by teenage mothers? and ?teenage pregnancy can ruin young girls? lives?.

Mr. Pettingill concurred, but said: ?If (Keesee) is put away for a long period of time, that support role is lost. His young children will not have a father.?

Mr. Justice Ground ruled that the defendant was quite young (17 and 18) at the time of each offence.

?Even now he is not even 20, as Mr. Pettingill said, he looks like a very young man,? said the Chief Justice.

There are two extremes in cases of underage sex, he added. ?At one end you have cases where young people aged 16, 17, 18 start to have a virtuous friendship that ends up in them having sex with each other.

?But, at the other extreme, there is the defendant who is in a supervisory facility and deliberately tries to seduce young girls. The appropriate penalties are very different indeed... In this case, the victims were under 14. This is a much more serious category.

?The law must protect young girls from themselves. (Keesee) is a young man with his life ahead of him with no other criminal propensities. I sentence you to 18 months imprisonment on each indictment, all to run concurrently,? he said.

Keesee must participate in the sex offender programme in prison and was also sentenced to three years of probation when he is released.

?An extended period of imprisonment may do (Keesee) real harm,? Mr. Justice Ground said. ?On the other hand the law has a duty to protect young women and send a clear message that they be left alone.?