Protecting Children from the Risk of Harm? A Critical Review of the Law’s Response(s) to Online Child Sexual Grooming in England and Wales

Abstract

The increased utilisation and integration of communication via online communication technology in society has facilitated opportunities for individuals to gain access to children for sexual abuse. This chapter analyses the growing recognition of the prevalence of online child sexual grooming in a context that explores how online communication can accelerate progression through the grooming stages, with a view to establishing to what extent these forms of communication have increased the potential risk of harm to children. Ultimately, this chapter demonstrates that online technology makes it easier for individuals to groom children and thus increases the chances of successfully grooming a child, i.e. gaining access for sexual abuse. The principal aim of this chapter is to explore the current limitations of Section 15 of the UK Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA) in relation to grooming. The analysis will emphasise that the exemption of the early stages of the grooming process from the offence’s scope has exacerbated the lack of clarity and understanding about this phenomenon. The chapter will also consider two particular examples of grooming, which fall outside Section 15’s scope. First, the discussion will focus on ‘third party grooming’. The second example relates to an arrangement to meet a child in the ‘virtual world’. For instance, a groomer may gain the child’s trust by befriending him/her, which could then result in an arranged virtual meeting via webcam. This chapter will consider the potential risk of harm these virtual meetings pose to children, whilst also drawing attention to the possibility of this grooming behaviour being caught by other statutory provisions under the SOA. It will be argued that judicial support for the utilisation of other offences under the SOA for targeting grooming behaviour underplays the government’s rationale for and relevance of Section 15 offence in providing a greater level of protection to children from grooming behaviour.

Jamie-Lee Mooney is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool.