1) He pleaded guilty to attempted sexual battery.

People often plead guilty for lesser sentences in the face of huge sentences if they are found guilty. Especially in cases with sexuality and a minor involved no one cares about whether actual force or abuse was committed or not.

2) He has asserted his innocence, saying "It may be hard for some to believe, but sometimes people are wrongly accused."

Because he is going to say otherwise?

I don't see what grounds you have for assuming consensual sexual activity, other than how news reports of this topic are sometimes questionable.

Always questionable. Unless the opinion of the minor was given I don't care what anyone else has to say. The parents, paedosexual, social workers, police, etc. The fact of the matter is that the youth are silenced in most cases, especially if their opinion does not fit what people want to hear.

Regardless I was just being snarky and making the point that people make asumptions on these cases because of they get very biased sources telling them the information. So if they can make ridiculous unsubstantiated assumptions so can I.