Legal system fails to find justice for child abuse victims

Abused children are being let down by the legal system, Barnardo’s has claimed, after revealing that only 89 convictions were brought for child exploitation in England and Wales in 2009.

The charity said that examination of Ministry of Justice figures had revealed that children were being failed because the small number of convictions did not match the 2,756 known child victims of abuse in 2009.

Research also showed that of the people prosecuted for rape of a child under the age of 13, only 41 per cent were found guilty; similarly, only 37 per cent of those prosecuted for sexual assault of a child under 13 were convicted.

Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said: “These children are being let down by the system. They are being failed twice; once by the failure to prevent them becoming victims in the first place and again by the failure to punish their abusers and secure justice.

“We need to see drastic changes to make sure the abusers who control such vulnerable children for sex and personal gain are brought to book.”

The charity said insufficient evidence and an over-reliance on victims to act as witnesses contributed to the low conviction rates.

The findings from Barnardo’s come as four men were this week sentenced for their role in running an international paedophile ring following an operation led by Lincolnshire Police.

A trial of nine men accused of grooming and exploiting seven vulnerable teenagers aged between 13 and 17 in Wellington near Telford has also begun this week, while 12 men arrested as part of a major investigation into the sexual exploitation of girls in Greater Manchester have been released on bail today (15 June).

Barnardo’s is set to begin a study that will assess the role of local safeguarding children’s boards (LSCBs) in securing prosecutions against perpetrators of child sexual exploitation, which will report in spring 2012.

Last October, research by the University of Bedfordshire found that less than a quarter of LSCBs in England have a strategy to protect children from sexual exploitation.