Prosecutions of low-risk paedophiles are clogging a court system already failing rape and sexual assault victims desperate for justice, a police chief said.
Simon Bailey, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council on child protection, told an inquiry that police cautions and treatment should be considered instead, to relieve the pressures.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse is holding evidence hearings into the role of the internet in facilitating child sexual abuse. Mr Bailey, who is also chief constable of Norfolk, told the hearing: “What I was seeing and continue to see is the police service struggling with the volume of abuse, and that’s right across both adult and child abuse.”
He said he was frustrated that victims were being let down and not able to get on with their lives due to the delays: “I see a court system, a crown prosecution system, within their rape and serious sexual offences team who are struggling to cope with the volume of work.” Sex abuse trials now took up 50 per cent of court time, Mr Bailey said, adding such investigations were overwhelming forces.
He said: “As we have lifted the stone, you just find more and more.”
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Nearly three quarters of convictions for viewing indecent images end in conditional discharges, suspended sentences or community service orders.