Sex Offences Carried out by Children and Young Persons

Our team are members of the Youth Justice Legal Centre, this means we take part in continuous

specialist training for practitioners representing youth clients.

Defence Lawyers Protecting Children Accused of Sexual Offences

Many instances of sexual offending by children arise in the context of immaturity, lack of awareness of the nuances of consent, sexual experimentation and peer pressure. Reported January 2024: 52% of all Child Sexual Abuse cases involved reports of children (aged 10 to 17) offending against other children with 14 being the most common age.

It is long recognised that it was not the intention of parliament to punish children using legislation designed to protect them. However, there are laws in place which allow for the prosecution of children who are alleged to have carried out sexual offences.

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes special provisions for sex offences committed by children, specifically section 13 which makes it an offence for a person under 18 to do anything which would be an offence under any of sub section 9-12 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 if the person was an adult. These offences include:

Sexual activity with a child
Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child
Causing a child to watch a sexual act

The maximum sentence for a child convicted of any of the offences is reduced to a five year custodial sentence.

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Sexting and Sharing Child Produced Sexual Imagery Between Children

It is a criminal offence to create or share explicit images of a child. However the law is intended to protect children and not to criminalise them. If sexting by a young person is reported to the police, the outcome would usually be for no formal action to be taken but having a lawyer to ensure this is the path followed by police is strongly advised.

Sexting is when people share a sexual message and/or naked or semi-naked image, video or text message with another person. Children and young people may consent to sending a nude image of themselves, but they can also be forced, tricked or coerced into sharing images.

CPS guidance suggests ‘sexting’ between children or sharing of ‘youth produced sexual imagery’ should not be routinely prosecuted. The guidance advises that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute the consensual sharing of sexual images between children and such incidents should be dealt with informally. This guidance applies to teenagers who are in a relationship and may be sharing intimate photographs or sending sexual message to one another.

A prosecution however may be appropriate where there is evidence indicating exploitation, grooming or bullying.

Early intervention is crucial to ensuring the rights and interests of a child are robustly protected.

Defending a Child and Achieving the Best Possible Outcome

Defences are available and it is most important in such cases, due to their sensitivity, for early pre charge engagement to take place between solicitors, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Our decision to Prosecute a Youth page explains the factors considered by the CPS when they are making charging decisions in such cases and we would seek in all cases for the most lenient outcome possible for young persons accused of sexual offences.

Our commitment to youth justice is evident with the continuous training our staff undergo every year with the Youth Justice Legal Centre. Youths should not be represented as an adult would, securing lawyers that understand the specialist approach to be applied is extremely important for you or your child.