FOI 66/26 Sarah's Law
Date: 10/02/26
Enquiry Reference: FOI 66-26
I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request. Below is your request and our response.
- In relation to the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, otherwise known as "Sarah's Law", how many requests has your force received asking if someone who has sufficient access to children has a sex offender's record in the
(i) 2023 - 11 RSO (7.9%)
(ii) 2024 - 24 RSO (14.2%)
(iii) 2025 - 29 RSO (12.6%)
- For each calendar year please state (i) in how many of these requests did the subject have a sex offender's record AND you disclosed the conviction to an interested party and
2023 there was 11 cases involving an RSO of which 9 had disclosures (81.82%)
2023 full year had 155 cases with 49 having a disclosure made (31.61%)
2024 there was 24 cases involving and RSO of which 14 had disclosure (58.33%)
2024 full year had 169 cases with 48 having a disclosure made (28.4%)
2025 there was 29 cases involving an RSO of which 20 had disclosure (68.97%)
2025 full year had 229 cases with 64 having a disclosure made (27.95)
(ii) of these positive returns how many of the individuals were registered sex offenders.
- a) Answered in Q1.
- Of the first ten cases from 1.3.2025 onwards where you disclosed an offender's record, please state the main/primary offence that caused concern?
Sexual assault/touching offences against a female under 16years
Sexual assault/touching offences against a familial female under 18 years
Online child grooming offences
Rape offence against adult female known to offender
Causing/incite familial male and female U10 to sexual touching each other
Archived RSO sexual assault female under 16 years
Archived RSO sexual assault against adult female
Archived RSO sexual assault against 2 females under 16 years
Online grooming offences against female under 16 years
Sexual assault/touching against familial female under 14 years.
Having made enquiries within the Force above is all the information we hold. Please note that all statistical data supplied in relation to Freedom of Information requests is a snapshot of data held at the time the request was received by the Freedom of Information office and is subject to constant change/updates.
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