§ 51. Mr. DICKINSONasked the Home Secretary how many oases have been reported during the last ten years of blackmailing charges brought by girls under sixteen years of age against men for offences under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885?
§ Sir G. CAVEThere are no trustworthy figures on the subject available. During the last ten years in the Metropolitan Police district twenty-two cases have been reported to the Commissioner in which false charges of the nature indicated in the question are alleged to have been brought by girls under sixteen. I have no figures for other parts of the country, and obviously not all the attempts at blackmail are brought to the knowledge of the police. If the attempt is successful the police are not likely to hear of it.