§ Mr. CanavanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each sheriffdom the number of cases of sexual abuse of children which have been reported to procurators fiscal since January 1990; how many of those were(a) referred to court under summary procedure, (b) referred to court under indictment and (c) cases in which the accused was found guilty; and what were the sentences given in cases when the accused was found guilty.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 13 February 1995]: It is not possible to identify all cases of child abuse proceeded against in Scottish courts because the Scottish Office Home and Health Department's classification of crimes and offences does not contain information on the victims of crime. The table sets out the available information for those sexual offences within the classification which, by definition, involve abuse of children.
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Persons called to Sheriff Courts and those with a charge proved where the main charge was sexual abuse of children' in each Sheriffdom in Scotland, 1990–93 Persons with charge proved by main penalty Sheriffdom Persons called to court Persons with charge proved Custody Community service order Probation Fine Caution admonition Other 1993 Grampian, Highland and Islands 30 27 5 5 9 7 1 — Tayside, Central and Fife 72 56 10 11 15 10 9 1 Lothian and Borders 34 28 6 2 12 7 1 — Glasgow and Strathkelvin 29 26 7 — 10 6 3 — North Strathclyde 18 15 5 1 7 — 1 1 South Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway 33 27 2 1 13 4 5 2 Total 216 179 35 20 66 34 20 4 1.Covers lewd and libidinous practices, defilement of girls under 16 causing the seduction, prostitution etc of a girl under 16.