Best way, IMHO.Been round to his place this morning and done a job for him, he still has not said anything about it so I'm keeping schtum also.
We generally keep ourselves to ourselves, we are on very good terms with all the neighbours ( all 8 households) and it would really upset me if they turned as he has done loads for all of them too, he's the sort of bloke that will help anyone out.
You are right in what you say, mud sticks, I don't believe the press should be allowed to report anything from any court until found guilty as innocent people are marked for life.
Given he’s done loads for your neighbours also, he sounds like a decent bloke and they really ought to think twice before tarring and feathering him.
Question: is he a bit soft in the head? I’m not being a twat here; where I’m going with this is does he have enough intelligence to know better or is someone trying to take advantage of a vulnerability that he might have? Another thing that entered my head is that if said girl and your mate are not local to each other, it might be that it was one of those unfortunate encounters where he was flattered by the attention of a younger girl (or she played up to attention of an older man).
Also, as it appears to have been consensual, as opposed to rape, I’m leaning towards giving him the benefit of the doubt. I say ‘leaning towards’ because I’m not so sure I’d be quite so understanding if it was my daughter. It’s a tough one.