Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many referrals were made about child abuse to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police in each of the last five years; and how many such cases resulted in subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of cases of child abuse, referred for a pre-charge decision or prosecuted, by way of a monitoring flag.
The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and includes physical, emotional and sexual criminal offences, as well as neglect of a child and Non-recent child abuse where the victim is now an adult. It includes allegations or crimes perpetrated by both adults and under 18s. The data is accurate only to the extent that the flag has been correctly applied.
During each of the last five years the number of pre-charge decisions made against suspects alleged to have committed offences involving child abuse is as follows:
| Pre-Charge Decisions |
2009-2010 | 12,691 |
2010-2011 | 13,015 |
2011-2012 | 11,610 |
2012-2013 | 9,379 |
2013-2014 | 11,187 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System
In the same period, the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted, in cases flagged as child abuse is as follows:
| Total Prosecuted | Convictions | % Convictions |
2009-2010 | 8,079 | 6,043 | 74.8% |
2010-2011 | 9,235 | 6,855 | 74.2% |
2011-2012 | 8,581 | 6,444 | 75.1% |
2012-2013 | 7,558 | 5,755 | 76.1% |
2013-2014 | 7,998 | 6,096 | 76.2% |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System
This information is available within the CPS’s annual ‘Violence against Women and Girls Report 2013-14’.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many referrals were made to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police regarding child sexual offences in each of the last five years; and in how many such cases there were subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not collect specific data on suspects referred to the CPS for a charging decision where child sexual abuse is alleged. However, data is available for the number of defendants whose prosecution was completed, where the case has been flagged as child abuse, and where the principal offence at finalisation is categorised as a sexual offence.
The CPS definition of child abuse covers any case where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the offence and includes allegations of crimes perpetrated by both adults and under 18s.
During each of the last five years the number of defendants prosecuted, in cases flagged as child abuse and whose principal offence was identified as a sexual offence, is as follows:
| Convictions | Unsuccessful | TOTAL | ||
| Volume | % | Volume | % | |
2009-2010 | 3,133 | 75.7% | 1,004 | 24.3% | 4,137 |
2010-2011 | 3,551 | 74.1% | 1,243 | 25.9% | 4,794 |
2011-2012 | 3,530 | 75.8% | 1,125 | 24.2% | 4,655 |
2012-2013 | 3,070 | 75.8% | 981 | 24.2% | 4,051 |
2013-2014 | 3,344 | 76.5% | 1,027 | 23.5% | 4,371 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System |
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It is not possible to disaggregate figures to show separately the volume and outcome of proceedings for individual offences within the Sexual Offences Category. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.