Sexual communication with a child 519/2024

FOI Reference: 519/2024

Request:

1. Please tell me the number of recorded offences under s.15A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, sexual communication with a child, (Home Office recording code 71/17) recorded from (and including) April 1^st2023 until (and including) March 31^st, 2024.
2. Where possible I would like to know the age and gender of the victim, broken down into age groups: 11 and under, 12-15, 16 and over.
3. Please tell me the age and gender of the youngest victim.
4. Please tell me all the forms of communication (i.e. which social media or messaging platform such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik, TikTok etc.) that have been recorded as having been used in connection with recorded offences under s.15A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, sexual communication with a child, from (and including) April 1^st2023 , until (and including) March 31^st2024.

Where the number of victims is greater than zero but fewer than five, please use a * if necessary, rather than rejecting my request on the grounds of protecting personal information.

Response 1:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

67

Response 2:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

Response 3:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

Female

10 years old

The above does not take into account the 26 crimes which are currently under investigation as a Section 30 exemption applies to those 26 crimes therefore they have been excluded.

Response 4:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

Explanation of the applied exemptions:

Section 30(1)(a) Investigations and Proceedings conducted by Public Authorities:

• Information held by a public authority is exempt information if it has at any time been held by the authority for the purposes of –
• Any investigation which the public authority has a duty to conduct with a view to it being ascertained (i) whether a person should be charged with an offence, or (ii) whether a person charged with an offence is guilty of it.

Section 30(1)(a) is a class-based qualified exemption. This means that the legislators when writing the legislation considered that the release of such information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 would cause harm to the public authority or individual concerned. There is therefore no requirement to carry out a HARM Test in respect of such information. However there is a requirement to carry out a Public Interest Test in order to establish whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption may be outweighed by a wider public benefit in disclosure.

Public Interest Test

Considerations favouring disclosure:

Disclosure of the information would improve the public’s knowledge and awareness regarding the frequency of such crimes.

Considerations favouring non-disclosure:

This exemption covers information held at any time for the purpose of an investigation, whether the case is ongoing, closed or abandoned. To release details of an ongoing investigation, as in this case, could undermine and prejudice those investigations. This would impact on the forces’ future law enforcement capabilities by hindering the prevention or detection of crime.

Balancing Test

After considering the advantages and disadvantages in disclosure, it falls upon Dyfed-Powys Police to conduct a balance test on the issues. The strongest argument for disclosure, which is public awareness, needs to be weighed against the strongest arguments for non-disclosure, which in this case is that the release would undermine and prejudice an ongoing investigation, which would impact on the forces’ future law enforcement capabilities by hindering the prevention or detection of crime.

Therefore, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

Furthermore, it should also be noted that Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the crime data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 14/06/2024)