Reports of sexual grooming rising in the county
REPORTS of sexual grooming are rising in Leicestershire but very few people are being prosecuted for the crime.
As crimes recorded by police reach record levels, prosecution rates have plummeted, leading the NSPCC to say children are being let down.
Victims reported 136 cases to Leicestershire police in 2018 – the highest number since figures began in 2004.
Sexual grooming crimes can involve engaging in sexual communication with a child, or where someone over the age of 18 meets up with someone aged under 16 following such communication.
The number of these crimes being reported has risen rapidly in recent years, following the introduction of the offence of sexual communication with a child in April 2017, according to Home Office figures.
Before 2016, there were just a handful of cases per year, but the number has risen from 35 in 2016 to 80 in 2017.
However, figures from the Ministry of Justice show that there were just 13 prosecutions where the primary charge was sexual grooming in 2018, the most recent figures available.
That is the equivalent of just 10% of reports leading to someone appearing in court.
Back in 2014, just seven cases were reported but there were seven prosecutions (100%).
In 2018, seven people were actually convicted of sexual grooming – one was jailed, one was given a suspended sentence, four were given community sentences and one was committed to a different court for sentencing.
One of the issues in bringing prosecutions may be a failure to identify suspects – 59 cases in 2018 were closed with no one responsible identified.
Evidential difficulties led to 34 cases not going forward, with the victim not supporting prosecution in 10 of those.
Across England and Wales, the number of sexual grooming crimes reported to police jumped by almost two-thirds in a single year, from 3,387 in 2017 to 5,548 in 2018.
However, just 722 people were prosecuted for the crime offence.
This means that the prosecution rate has dropped from 41% in 2012, when there were 143 prosecutions and 347 crimes recorded, to just 13% in 2018.
Anna Edmundson, NSPCC head of policy, said: “We are seeing a huge increase in victims of sexual grooming, but the system is not responding and too many children are being let down.
“There needs to be a fundamental rethink in how children are treated by the justice system, with the police, CPS, NHS and children’s social care working much more closely together.
“That can be done, the pioneering Lighthouse service in North London brings together investigation, as
aprincipal support and treatment in a joined-up way which can help ensure children do not drop out of the criminal justice process and receive the care they need to recover.”
People can also be prosecuted for sexual grooming alongside other crimes that are likely to attract higher sentences.
In 2018, 953 people were charged with sexual grooming in total, some alongside charges such as rape and sexual assault, child abduction and modern slavery – up from 688 in 2017.
However, even taking these numbers into account, prosecution levels would be much lower than in previous years.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “Child sexual grooming has a devastating impact and we want all victims to have the confidence to come forward and report their experiences. In 2018, CPS prosecuted more cases of sexual grooming than ever before.
“We can only consider cases which are referred to us by the police, but we are committed to bringing perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. Whenever our legal test is met, we will not hesitate to prosecute.”
Of the 5,548 sexual grooming crimes reported to police in 2018, 1,791 were closed because no suspect could be identified, while 840 were dropped due to evidential difficulties, even though a suspect was identified and the victim supported further action.