FOI 396/25 Group-based contact child sexual exploitation
Enquiry Reference: 396-25
I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request. Below is your request and our response.
We are working towards an estimate of group-based contact child sexual exploitation. To do this we are counting the number of people who have been sentenced for such crimes that would fall into this category.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, would you be able to provide us with the number of cases in your area that have involved more than two people convicted of child sexual exploitation offences that have involved contact rather than just indecent images of children over the last 20 years? If possible can you provide these broken down by year?
Could you also provide names of significant operations in your area that have sought to bring people to justice for these types of crimes (equivalents of Stovewood, Bullfinch or Sanctuary in England) and any numbers for convictions secured from these investigations – again in the last 20 years?
- No information held.
It is the duty of Cleveland Police to identify and apprehend suspects, decisions regarding prosecutions are the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service and Convictions is that of HM Courts Service therefore Conviction data is held by HM Courts.
The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.
If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Decision Maker