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.

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:

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.