Do not jail all paedophiles, says police chief

Paedophiles who view indecent images but go no further should not be jailed but rehabilitated, a leading child protection police officer has said.

Police forces “cannot cope” with the “huge” rise in reports, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, of the National Police Chief’s Council, told the BBC.

Figures show the number of child abuse reports is up by 80% in three years.

The Home Office said “viewing child abuse images is a terrible crime and should be treated as such”.

Chief Constable Bailey, the head of Operation Hydrant, which is investigating multiple allegations of historic sexual abuse across the UK, said he knew his view would cause nervousness and draw headlines.

But he said the numbers of reports of abuse were at “huge proportions” – an NSPCC study in late 2016 used figures which suggested the number of individuals looking at such images could exceed half a million.

‘Contact cases’ focus

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about 400 people were arrested by police in conjunction with the National Crime Agency every month, for looking at indecent images.

Media captionPolice chief dealing with child sex abuse tells Today lower-risk paedophiles should not be locked up
“There are undoubtedly tens of thousands of men that are seeking to exploit children online with a view to meeting them, with a view to then raping them and performing the most awful sexual abuse upon them,” he said.

“That’s where I believe our focus has got to be. They are the individuals that pose the really significant threat.”
Offenders who viewed online child abuse images should be placed on the sex offenders register, cautioned and managed in the community undergoing rehabilitation, he said.

Referrals to rehabilitation ” increasingly are effective”, he said.

He added: “Every time viewed, the victim abused again. But we have to be able to manage the totality.”

Not using the court system would “speed things up”.

‘Tough law enforcement’

A Home Office spokesperson said the government had committed £20m to the National Crime Agency for specialist teams to tackle online child sexual exploitation.

“Alongside ensuring we have a tough law enforcement response to bring offenders to justice, we are also committed to preventing offending in the first place,” they added.

Chief Constable Bailey’s comments came as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales (IICSA) began its full public hearings on Monday.

The wide-reaching inquiry will look at child abuse claims against local authorities, religious organisations, the armed forces and public and private institutions – as well as people in the public eye.

It began with an examination of allegations made by children in care who were sent abroad.

NSPCC specialises in child protection

National Association for People Abused in Childhood offers support, advice and guidance to adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse

Survivor Scotland offers help to improve the lives of survivors of childhood abuse in Scotland

Childline is a private and confidential service for children and young people up to the age of 19

The Children’s Society works to support vulnerable children in England and Wales

Stop It Now! supports adults worried about child abuse, including survivors, professionals, those with a concern about their own thoughts or behaviour towards children and friends and relatives of people arrested for sexual offending

The Child Migrants Trust attempts to reunite children sent abroad with their families

Source: BBC