Online Child Grooming Law after Two?year Wait

By John Simpson
The Times
March 20, 2017

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/online-child-grooming-law-after-twoyear-wait-c0fkl6lbs?shareToken=e5966ed91e4aabfa3676c1ee60b4cb5b

The number of missed opportunities to prosecute offenders are thought to run into thousands because of the delayed implementation of the law

A new law against “sexual communication with a child” will finally be brought into force after two years of delays and public pressure.

Liz Truss, the justice secretary, will announce the law, which is designed to help to stop child sexual abuse at the earliest stages, today.

The legislation has been the focus of public anger since it was passed in March 2015 but the government failed to usher through a commencement order that is needed before law enforcement agencies could use the power. Missed opportunities to prosecute offenders are thought to run into thousands. Ms Truss will also announce measures to give alleged rape victims the option to record their evidence on tape before trials.

“In a world of mobile phones and social media our children are ever more vulnerable to those who prey on their innocence,” she said yesterday. “This new offence will help us to tackle the early stages of grooming and nip in the bud those targeting children online or through texts.”

The new law against child sexual grooming online will make it a criminal offence for anyone over the age of 18 to communicate with a child under 16 with sexual content or in a bid to elicit a sexual response. Those convicted will go on the sex offenders register and face up to two years in jail. It is a victory for the NSPCC, which, backed by The Times, has campaigned since 2014 for tough protections for children online.

In the second legislative move to be announced today, Ms Truss said that alleged rape victims would be allowed to submit pre-recorded evidence to spare them the ordeal of appearing in court in front of their alleged attackers. She will announce both measures today when MPs vote on the second reading of the Prisons and Courts Bill.

Pilot schemes have shown that defendants were more likely to plead guilty when confronted with the strength of evidence against them, removing the ordeal of a trial, she said. She has confirmed that the reform would go ahead in September across all courts and could boost rape convictions.

It will end the spectacle of alleged victims being confronted day after day by defendants in court and ensure compliance with rules that prohibit questioning on sexual history except where necessary. “There is more we can do to help alleged victims in these cases give the best possible evidence they can give in an environment that is much more suitable than open court,” Ms Truss told The Sunday Times. “What this has led to is a much higher level of early guilty pleas. That has a huge amount of benefit. It resolves the level of trauma for the victim. I want to see that being the standard offer in those cases and that will give more victims the confidence to come forward.”

The number of rapes recorded has doubled in the past four years.

Zoe Gascoyne, who chairs the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association, warned that the measures could be a step too far. Taped interviews could take place long before the trial and not take account of real-time developments, she said.