Paedophiles face jail even if ‘no child exists’

CHILD abusers will face life in jail for arranging or facilitating sex offences even where no child exists, under new sentencing guidelines.

Judges will be told they should determine sentences on the intended harm to a child even when no sexual activity takes place.

The crackdown also covers police “sting” operations where sex offenders trying to commit a sexual offence with a child are caught by undercover officers.

The moves have been set out by the sentencing council, which said it aimed to protect children from paedophiles planning to cause them sexual harm.

Judge Rosa Dean, a sentencing council member, said the guidelines would bring “greater clarity to the courts on how to deal with cases of arranging or facilitating child sexual offences, even in cases where no actual child exists, or no sexual activity took place”.

She added: “Judges and magistrates will impose sentences that reflect the intended harm to the child, even where that activity does not ultimately take place, to protect children from people planning to cause them sexual harm.”

The guidelines cover two offences. One is arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, which can carry a maximum of life in jail if the rape of a child under 12 years old is being planned.

The second is causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and other similar offences, even where activity is incited but does not take place or no child victim exists.

The maximum sentence is 14 years’ imprisonment.

The new guidelines follow a court of appeal ruling on four cases, where the defendants claimed they should face a lower sentence after travelling to meet “fictional children” as part of a police undercover “sting” operation.