Sexual Offences: Young People
(asked on 19th November 2014) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people under 16 have been convicted of a sexual offence in each police authority in the most recent year available.
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice
Serious sexual offending by under 16s is unacceptable. As part of the consideration of each young person’s case, the court will look at their background, their reasons for offending, the welfare of the child and any relevant history including time spent in care. It may not always be in the young persons’ interest to severely criminalise low level first time sexual offending, but rather to address the offending behaviour which reduces the risk of reoffending. This is why all youth sentences have a strong rehabilitative element in recognition of a child and young persons’ age and maturity.
The number of offenders aged under 16 found guilty at all courts of sexual offences, in England and Wales, by police force area, in 2013 (latest available) can be viewed in the table below.
| Offenders under 16 found guilty at all courts of sexual offences, England and Wales, 2013 (1)(2) | |
| Metropolitan Police | 31 |
| Cumbria | 2 |
| Lancashire | 9 |
| Merseyside | 6 |
| Greater Manchester | 14 |
| Cheshire | 7 |
| Northumbria | 6 |
| Durham | 2 |
| West Yorkshire | 9 |
| South Yorkshire | 1 |
| Humberside | 4 |
| Cleveland | 2 |
| West Midlands | 13 |
| Staffordshire | 2 |
| West Mercia | 6 |
| Warwickshire | 1 |
| Derbyshire | 4 |
| Nottinghamshire | 4 |
| Lincolnshire | 2 |
| Leicestershire | 1 |
| Northamptonshire | 4 |
| Cambridgeshire | 2 |
| Norfolk | 4 |
| Suffolk | 3 |
| Bedfordshire | 1 |
| Hertfordshire | 4 |
| Essex | 1 |
| Thames Valley | 4 |
| Hampshire | 5 |
| Kent | 2 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 1 |
| Avon and Somerset | 2 |
| Gloucestershire | 2 |
| Dorset | 1 |
| North Wales | 9 |
| Gwent | 3 |
| South Wales | 12 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 3 |
| (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. | |
| (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |
| Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |
| Ref: PQ 215366 | |