Sex crimes committed by adults in positions of trust have increased in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight since 2014, official figures show.
The data, released by the Office for National Statistics, revealed the number of offences whereby professionals such as teachers, care staff and youth justice workers targeted 16 and 17-year-olds in their care for sex, rose to 19 between July 2016 and June 2017 up from 6 just 3-years ago. In total 46 crimes were recorded in Hampshire between July 2013 and June 2017.
Nationally, the number of offences rose to 290 from July 2016 to June 2017, up from 159 only 3-years ago. Nearly 1,000 crimes were recorded from July 2013 to June 2017.
Position of Trust laws don’t currently apply to other adults working with young people, but Government this month announced it plans to extend legislation to cover sports coaches.
The NSPCC’s #TrustToLead campaign is urging Government to go further and extend the law to cover all adults working regularly with children, including religious leaders, adults working in the arts, outdoor pursuits and other activities.
The current loophole means adults with regular and intense contact with children in extra-curricular activities are able to groom them from a young age, and abuse that trusting relationship to have sexual contact as soon as the child turns 16.
NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said:
“It’s hard to believe that the law protects 16- and 17-year-old children from being preyed upon in the classroom, but not on the sports pitch or on the stage.
Article continues below this advertisement “We know that some adult youth workers spend years grooming young people and then, as soon as their 16th birthday comes around, they target them for sex.
“Extending Position of Trust laws to sports coaches is an important step in the right direction which will help protect more children from this kind of abuse. But to stop there would be a missed opportunity. Government must close this loophole to protect children from other adults who use their authority to exploit them.”
