§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) allegations to the police of, (b) prosecutions for and (c) convictions for child sexual abuse there have been in each year since 1980; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JackInformation is not collected centrally on the number of allegations of child sexual abuse. A special survey carried out in May 1988—see Home Office statistical bulletin 42/89 "Criminal proceedings for offences involving violence against children, May 1988"—copy available in the Library—showed that about 7 per cent. of all prosecutions for offences of violence against the person or sexual offences were against children aged 16 or under.
The available information on the number of prosecutions and convictions for sexual offences against children in England and Wales for the years 1980 to 1991 is given in the tables. 1992 data will not be available until the autumn. It is not possible from the information held centrally to identify all sex offenders where the victim is known to be aged 16 years or under.
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Table A Number of persons prosecuted for child sex offences 1980–1991 England and Wales Offence 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 Buggery with a boy under the age of 16 or with a woman or an animal 199 192 139 200 172 181 176 245 320 281 327 300 Attempt to commit buggery with a boy under the age of 16 or with a woman or an animal 9 10 5 8 12 14 20 21 28 32 25 24 Indecent assault on a male aged under 16 years 610 571 613 597 592 581 511 549 559 553 570 522 Indecent assault on a female aged under 16 years 1,869 1,624 1,694 1,573 1,531 1,708 1,653 2,037 2,159 2,169 2,285 2,138 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13 years 104 87 87 126 115 138 129 155 165 139 146 155 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16 years 571 500 449 425 434 407 368 360 345 290 292 254 Incest with a girl under 13 years 62 37 54 38 54 55 74 104 105 88 111 80 Inciting girl under 16 years to have incestuous sexual intercourse 5 8 8 3 — 1 1 5 3 3 1 1 Householder permitting unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years 5 7 9 7 11 5 4 7 10 6 7 3 Person responsible for girl aged under 16 causing or encouraging her prostitution, etc. 4 4 5 1 3 — 1 4 — 2 — 2 Abduction of unmarried girl aged under 16 years 16 10 11 12 11 11 13 13 20 16 12 20 Gross indecency with children 292 246 269 243 232 265 263 284 226 277 317 239 184W185W
Table B Number of persons convicted1 of child sex offences 1980–1991 England and Wales Offence 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 Buggery with a boy under the age of 16 or with a woman or an animal 147 147 126 149 118 150 147 195 232 183 189 168 Attempt to commit buggery with a boy under the age of 16 or with a woman or an animal 15 10 5 12 22 17 20 20 31 26 18 26 Indecent assault on a male aged under 16 years 562 509 506 533 511 528 410 430 460 406 421 351 Indecent assault on a female aged under 16 years 1,685 1,458 1,492 1,356 1,281 1,446 1,327 1,556 1,650 1,657 1,537 1,469 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13 years 102 81 71 103 83 110 100 102 135 96 110 105 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16 years 566 487 419 422 414 395 341 346 340 262 304 223 Incest with a girl under 13 years 52 32 45 40 49 57 77 89 104 100 84 68 Inciting girl under 16 years to have incestuous sexual intercourse 6 7 7 7 — 3 3 4 2 5 3 3
Offence 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 Householder permitting unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years 5 7 7 3 6 3 2 6 1 3 5 1 Person responsible for girl aged under 16 causing or encouraging her prostitution, etc. 3 4 3 4 3 — 3 3 1 1 2 2 Abduction of unmarried girl aged under 16 years 11 8 9 6 8 11 12 7 8 13 8 8 Gross indecency with children 264 229 231 220 237 266 243 248 246 219 276 219 1 Includes persons proceeded against in earlier years or for other offences.