NSPCC condemns unacceptable delay in bringing anti-grooming law into force

Thursday, 12 January 2017 15:45

The Government has been accused of dragging its feet over a law which would arm police with new powers to tackle paedophiles.

More than 50,000 people joined the charity’s ‘Flaw in the Law’ campaign which called on the Government to make it illegal for an adult to send a sexual message to a child.

In 2015 Parliament put the new offence on the statute book in England and Wales, which meant an adult would be breaking the law if they sent a sexual communication to an under 16-year-old.¹

But now - almost two years later - the NSPCC has questioned why the Government has yet to trigger the law, already successfully used to catch abusers in Scotland.

North of the border in the last six years the authorities have recorded 1,537 offences under similar legislation.²Since February last year legislation has also been in place in Northern Ireland.³

Childline figures also show the number of counselling sessions for children worried about online sexual abuse rose last year (2015-16) by 24 per cent to 3,716.

Peter Wanless, NSPCC CEO, has written to Secretary of State for Justice Elizabeth Truss, asking why it has been delayed and demanding that the law is put into force immediately.

He said: “In too many cases the police have been left powerless to take action to protect children who are increasingly being targeted by abusers online.

“This new offence was supposed to mean that the law could be brought to bear on anyone who grooms children online.

“The public have backed our campaign, Parliament has agreed to it and Scotland shows that young victims are bravely coming forward and beginning to reveal the sickening numbers of adults targeting children for abuse, so we cannot understand why the Government is dragging its feet.

“It is an unacceptable and baffling delay in equipping police in England and Wales in the battle against criminals who are intent on targeting children.”

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