The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for sexual offences against children, 2004 to 2007 is shown in the table. As there is no specific offence of “child abuse,” statistics are only provided where the age of the victim can be identified as a child from the description of the offence. The term “child abuse” describes harm caused to a child arising from emotional, physical, sexual abuse or neglect caused by a parent, guardian, carer, or stranger. A number of other offences such as offences against the person including physical assault may frequently be used by the police to charge offenders.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales to provide extra protection to children from sexual exploitation. This makes direct comparisons with previous legislation very difficult. Many new offences created by the Act will not have a direct equivalent under the old legislation.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Police force area 20045 2005 2006 2007 Avon and Somerset 66 110 88 81 Bedfordshire 27 46 37 32 Cambridgeshire 34 58 41 56 Cheshire 44 80 62 81 City of London — 1 — — Cleveland 27 43 58 60 Cumbria 21 46 32 48 Derbyshire 49 100 86 89 Devon and Cornwall 21 65 94 110 Dorset 18 29 33 28 Durham 49 67 72 68 Essex 52 58 54 24 Gloucestershire 18 37 40 45 Greater Manchester 159 234 248 245 Hampshire 105 134 129 195 Hertfordshire 40 65 82 39 Humberside 48 55 61 53 Kent 47 39 33 49 Lancashire 81 159 149 155 Leicestershire 49 66 78 78 Lincolnshire 52 59 54 51 Merseyside 49 60 60 90 Metropolitan Police 356 495 483 452 Norfolk 22 44 41 53 North Yorkshire 39 42 69 59 Northamptonshire 18 30 24 11 Northumbria 56 121 122 129 Nottinghamshire 68 91 92 80 South Yorkshire 61 89 85 101 Staffordshire 91 89 91 72 Suffolk 28 59 60 48 Surrey 17 50 39 44 Sussex 27 73 79 79 Thames Valley 40 122 112 139 Warwickshire 13 30 22 34 West Mercia 60 88 88 98 West Midlands 308 286 332 293 West Yorkshire 117 159 130 140 Wiltshire 25 54 38 34 Dyfed-Powys 41 25 24 26 Gwent 51 79 52 54 North Wales 50 56 49 25 South Wales 120 117 108 130 England and Wales 2,664 3,810 3,731 3,778 1 Includes the following offences: Causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person. Cruelty or neglect of children. Abandoning children under two years. Sexual assault of a male child aged under 13. Rape, attempted rape of a male or female aged under 13 or under 16. Sexual assault of a female child aged under 13. Sexual activity with a male or female child aged under 13. Sexual activity with a male or female aged under 16. Familial sexual offences of a male or female child aged under 13. Abuse of children aged under 18 through prostitution and pornography. Abuse of trust sexual offences against a child aged under 18. Meeting a male or female aged under 16 following sexual grooming. 2 Covers offences which identify the victim as a minor at the time the offence was committed. 3 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 4 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 5 The Sexual Offences Act came into force on 1 May 2004. Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit. Ministry of Justice.