Offences against Children: Victims
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of victims of grooming gangs who will have convictions for prostitution expunged.
Answered by Jess Phillips
The Home Office is setting up a disregards scheme for convictions and cautions issued to under 18s for persistently loitering or soliciting in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution, contrary to Section 1 of The Street Offences Act 1959.
A preliminary search of centrally held digital records suggests that 352 individuals have been cautioned or convicted for this offence while under 18, since 1995. We are legislating in the Crime and Policing Bill to disregard and pardon these convictions and cautions.
However, it is not possible to calculate the proportion of the 352 individuals who were the victim of group based child sexual exploitation.
We are aware that victims of group based child sexual exploitation may have been convicted for other offences; the Ministry of Justice is working with the Criminal Cases Review Commission to ensure it is properly resourced to review the applications of victims of Child Sexual Exploitation who believe they were unjustly convicted when their position as a victim was not properly understood.
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