Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 8 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each of the last four years.

Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government takes very seriously all matters relating to sexual abuse including the abuse of children.

The number of offenders found guilty of offences under Section 8 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in England and Wales from 2008 to 2012 can be viewed in the table.

Court proceedings data for England and Wales for 2013 are planned for publication as part of the Criminal Justice Statistics publication in May 2014