Offences against Children

(asked on 8th March 2016) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of child abuse flagged by sexual offences have been investigated in each police force area in each of the last three years.


Answered by
Karen Bradley Portrait
Karen Bradley
This question was answered on 11th March 2016

The Home Office does not collect data on the number of cases of sexual offences flagged as child abuse that have been investigated.

The Home Office collects information on the number of crimes the police in England and Wales record and the outcomes they assign to these crimes. The Home Office is clear that all crimes reported to the police should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.

From the data the Home Office receives, information can only be provided for certain sexual offences that identify that the victim is aged under 18 by the name of the offence in statute, namely:

 Rape of a female child under 16

 Rape of a female child under 13

 Rape of a male child under 16

 Rape of a male child under 13

 Sexual assault on a female child under 13

 Sexual assault on a male child under 13

 Sexual activity involving a child under 13

 Sexual activity involving child under 16

 Sexual grooming (the victim must be under 16)

 Abuse of position of trust in a sexual nature (under 17)

 Abuse of children through sexual exploitation

Data for these offences by police force area are available in the police recorded crime and outcomes open data available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

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