51 juvenile sexual abuse cases not taken to court

A total of 28 of the allegations were of indecent assault, 20 were regarding unlawful sexual intercourse and three were in relation to incitement to commit a sexual act.

The figures were released following a freedom of information request about abuse where both the alleged victim and suspect were under 18.

Ten of the allegations were made this year, while 12 were reported in 2016. The highest figure was in 2014, when 17 allegations were made.

Since the start of 2013, a further 19 allegations where both the alleged victim and suspect were under 18 were either dealt with by the courts or a parish hall, or a decision was taken not to prosecute as it was not deemed to be in the public interest.

These comprised: two indecent assaults, one allegation of gross indecency, 15 allegations of unlawful sexual intercourse and one case of possessing indecent photographs of children. The document also shows that the States police have received 17 reports of children sexting – sharing explicit images – so far this year.

In the FoI response, it states: ‘Incidents of texting sexual images between children (sexting) is an ongoing concern. However, prosecutions do not follow in most cases. To date this year, the States of Jersey Police have recorded 17 instances of peer-to-peer sexting for under-18s. While sexting is a criminal offence, SOJP try not to criminalise children where it takes place as part of a consensual relationship, but where coercion or threats are involved SOJP will act.’

Earlier this week it was revealed that reports of children sexting in England and Wales have soared in recent years. Police forces registered 6,328 sexting offences in 2016/17 – up by 33 per cent on the previous year and 131 per cent up on the figure for 2014/15.

Simon Bailey, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, described it as a ‘worrying upward trend’.

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