Latest news with #childsexualexploitation
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Police in England and Wales identify 287 child sexual exploitation cases for review
Police forces in England and Wales have identified a further 287 outstanding cases of alleged child sexual exploitation by rape gangs, Yvette Cooper has disclosed. The home secretary said the government was also planning to wipe the convictions of grooming victims prosecuted over soliciting for prostitution, following concerns that children had been criminalised by the authorities. The disclosures were made on Tuesday before a hearing of the home affairs select committee, where she also: Indicated that the government would legislate for a 'fast track' system to speed up the removal of people applying for asylum from 'safe' countries. Called for the creation of a digital service for e-visas and border control so that the government could monitor who was in the UK legally. Voiced concern over the rising numbers of teenage extremism offences. Asked by MPs about grooming gangs, Cooper said she ordered all of the 43 police forces in England and Wales to review files to see if there were outstanding cases which should be reviewed. About half of the forces had reported back, she said. 'For those forces, 287 historic cases have been identified for review by the police child sexual exploitation taskforce,' she said. The government is considering a 'disregard' scheme for convictions of people who were under 18 when convicted of loitering or soliciting for the purposes of prostitution, Cooper said. The criminal law changed so under-18s can no longer be convicted of those offences. Those changes were made in recognition that these people were not 'child prostitutes' but had been groomed and sexually exploited. 'We need to look at the action we need to take so that people do not carry around those criminal convictions for the rest of their lives,' she said. Her comments follows a campaign for 'Sammy's law' – led by Sammy Woodhouse, who was abused by a gang in Rotherham – which has been supported by a number of police chiefs, child protection experts and MPs. In a further development which will concern human rights organisations, Cooper said the Home Office was pushing for a 'digital ID for everyone coming to the UK'. 'We want to have a digital service linked to e-visas and linked to our border management process to be able to determine whether an individual is in or out of the UK, whether they have left at the point at which their visa expires or whether they are overstaying and immigration enforcement action is needed,' she said. Asked about the government's counter-extremism programme Prevent, Cooper said she was 'very concerned' by evidence of increasing extremism among young people. 'We are seeing the counter-terrorism caseload trebling in three years involving teenagers. This may be about far-right extremism, far-right extremism and violent extremism,' she said. The home secretary said there had also been a doubling of the number of young people being referred to Prevent since last summer. 'I continue to be concerned about the threshold ending up being too high and not enough Islamist extremist cases being referred to Prevent and the need to do more to make sure more of those cases were being referred to Prevent,' she said.
Malay Mail
23-05-2025
- Malay Mail
Singapore exposes disturbing trend of online child exploitation with new prosecutions
SINGAPORE, May 23 — Six men will be prosecuted in the republic for alleged offences related to child sexual exploitation, many of which began with online contact. The police revealed that the suspects, aged between 22 and 41, were apprehended by a specialised unit investigating crimes against minors, according to The Straits Times. In two separate cases, the accused allegedly befriended female victims online before arranging to meet and perform sexual acts. One of the men, aged 37, will face charges for commercial sex and communicating with a minor for sexual services. A 25-year-old, also arrested in 2024, is accused of engaging in multiple acts of sexual penetration with a girl under 16. Several suspects are being charged for possession of child abuse materials, highlighting the risks posed by online content sharing. Police urged vigilance among parents and communities, warning of the dangers children face from online predators. Authorities reiterated that Singapore imposes harsh penalties for child sex crimes and the possession of obscene or abusive content.
