Sex Offenders Law, Policy and Practice (Second Edition)

by Cobley, Cathy

• ISBN13: 9780853089797
• ISBN10: 0853089795
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-01
• Publisher: Jordan Publishing Limited

Summary

Sex Offenders: Law, Policy and Practice is a unique and authoritative book examining sexual offending and the management of sex offenders. The complex issues inherent in dealing with sex offenders are dealt with here including the investigation of sexual offences, trial procedures, sentencing, control, risk assessment, protection of the public, treatment, housing and protection of children and adolescent offenders. The responsibilities of local authorities, the rights of the individual and the community, the sexual offences register, employment restrictions and human rights questions are all considered. This book offers a clear explanation of relevant legal principles and practice, written for legal and non-legal professionals alike This new edition has been extensively re-written to take into account the fundamental changes in law and practice following the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which brought about the most radical overhaul of sexual offences legislation for 50 years. In addition the Criminal Justice Act 2003 has introduced a new sentencing regime. Other changes include the introduction of the National Offender Management Service and the Bichard inquiry made recommendations concerning the recording of criminal intelligence and the consequences of failures by police in the recording, retention and disclosure of relevant information.

Author Biography

Cathy Cobley is Senior Lecturer in Law at Cardiff University.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Table of Cases	xiii
Table of Statutes	xix
Table of Statutory Instruments	xxxi
Table of European Materials	xxxiii
Sex offenders and sexual offences	1	(36)
Sex offenders -- a modern problem?	1	(2)
Definitional problems -- sex offenders and sexual offences	3	(22)
Distinctions between sexual offences and the issue of consent	4	(9)
Sexual offences 'old' and 'new' -- the two regimes	13	(2)
Child sexual abuse and the internet -- an area of growing concern	15	(5)
Children as offenders	20	(2)
But who is a sex offender?	22	(3)
The extent of the problem	25	(12)
The 'dark figure' -- problems of unreported and unrecorded crime	25	(12)
The pre-trial process	37	(76)
The process of attrition and the widening justice gap	37	(1)
Sexual offences and the process of attrition	37	(3)
Attrition in rape cases	38	(1)
Narrowing the justice gap in rape cases	39	(1)
Reporting to the police	40	(2)
Rape -- a change in the pattern of reporting	40	(2)
Problems of investigating sexual offences	42	(8)
False reporting and the withdrawal of complaints	42	(3)
Investigating allegations of past abuse -- 'trawling' for evidence	45	(2)
Consent	47	(2)
Drug assisted rape and sexual assault	49	(1)
The investigation	50	(27)
Gathering evidence from the victim -- medical examinations	50	(4)
Gathering evidence from the victim -- the unknown offender	54	(2)
Gathering evidence from the suspect -- searches, arrest and detention	56	(21)
When police inquiries have been completed	77	(25)
Insufficient to charge -- unconditional release or bailing to return to the police station	77	(1)
Inconclusive inquiries and those suspected of sexual offences	78	(8)
Sufficient evidence to justify a prosecution	86	(1)
Sufficient evidence to prosecute	87	(7)
Bail and custody	94	(8)
Young offenders and other vulnerable offenders	102	(2)
The role of the Crown Prosecution Service	104	(9)
The Code for Crown Prosecutors	104	(3)
Rape and CPS decision-making	107	(2)
Child victims and CPS decision-making	109	(2)
The effect of delay on prosecution	111	(1)
Statutory time limits	111	(1)
Consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions	112	(1)
The criminal trial	113	(78)
The adversarial system of trial and the law of evidence	113	(2)
The adversarial trial	113	(1)
Evidence	114	(1)
Criminal trials and admissible evidence	115	(3)
Roles of judge and jury	115	(1)
Inadmissible evidence -- the rule against hearsay	115	(1)
Judicial discretion	116	(1)
The discretion to exclude evidence	117	(1)
The burden of proof	117	(1)
The standard of proof	118	(1)
Witnesses	118	(10)
Competence	119	(1)
Children, competence and the oath	120	(2)
Adults with disabilities and illnesses	122	(1)
Determining competence to give evidence	123	(1)
Sworn or unsworn evidence?	124	(1)
Competence and the role of the expert witness	125	(1)
False evidence	125	(1)
Compellability	125	(1)
Corroboration	126	(2)
Evidence of character	128	(14)
Character of the defendant	128	(5)
Character of the complainant	133	(7)
Previous consistent statements	140	(2)
Identification evidence	142	(6)
Eye witness identification evidence	142	(1)
Scientific identification evidence	143	(5)
Criminal trials and procedure	148	(34)
Regulating access to prosecution material in cases of sexual offences	148	(1)
Summary and indictable trials	149	(4)
Sending Cases to the Crown Court	153	(2)
The trial	155	(27)
Anonymity and reports of proceedings	182	(9)
Contempt of court	182	(1)
Children and Young Persons Act 1933	183	(1)
Complainants in sexual offences cases	183	(1)
Reform measures	184	(1)
The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999	184	(3)
Acquittals and retrials for serious offences	187	(4)
Sentencing sex offenders	191	(82)
The concept of punishment	191	(4)
Rationales and justifications of punishment	192	(3)
Punishing sex offenders	195	(4)
Sex offenders and retribution	195	(3)
Incapacitation -- a sufficient justification for punishing sex offenders?	198	(1)
Deterring sex offenders	198	(1)
Treating sex offenders -- the rehabilitative ideal	199	(1)
Procedure following conviction	199	(14)
Adjourning for inquiries	199	(1)
Facts of the offence	200	(1)
Antecedents	200	(2)
Pre-sentence reports	202	(4)
The prosecutor and the sentencing process	206	(1)
The victim and the sentencing process	207	(3)
Medical reports	210	(1)
Mitigation	211	(1)
Derogatory assertions	212	(1)
The sentencing stage	213	(24)
The principles of sentencing	213	(3)
Purposes of sentencing	216	(1)
Custodial sentences -- general principles	217	(5)
Sentencing dangerous offenders	222	(3)
Life sentences and indeterminate sentences for dangerous offenders	225	(3)
Extended sentences for sex offenders	228	(3)
Life imprisonment	231	(6)
Community sentences	237	(8)
Sex offenders and community sentences	239	(1)
Sex offenders and supervision	240	(2)
Sex offenders and treatment	242	(1)
Sex offenders, alcohol and drugs	242	(1)
Curfews and exclusions -- restricting the movements of sex offenders	243	(1)
Sentencing and the notification requirements	244	(1)
Sentencing young offenders	245	(3)
Young offenders and custodial sentences	245	(2)
Young offenders and community sentences	247	(1)
Mentally disordered offenders	248	(6)
Hospital Orders	249	(1)
Discharge from hospital	250	(1)
Restriction Orders	250	(1)
Hospital Orders, Restriction Orders and sex offenders	251	(1)
Psychopaths and the case for change	251	(1)
Hospital and limitation directions	252	(1)
More radical proposals	253	(1)
Appeals against sentence	254	(7)
Criminal Cases Review Commission	254	(1)
Attorney-General's references	255	(1)
The role of the Court of Appeal in sentencing	256	(1)
Sentencing Advisory Panel	257	(1)
The creation of the Sentencing Guidelines Council	258	(2)
Sentencing and public opinion	260	(1)
Sentencing sex offenders in practice	261	(12)
Rape	261	(4)
Unlawful sexual intercourse	265	(1)
Indecent assault and indecency with children	266	(2)
Indecent photographs of children	268	(3)
Sentencing and the Sexual Offences Act 2003	271	(2)
Sentence management: sex offender assessment and treatment	273	(38)
The aims of sentence management	273	(1)
The creation of the national offender management service	273	(4)
The background	273	(4)
Sentence planning and offender assessment	277	(12)
Specialist sex offender risk assessments	281	(4)
Development of the Offender Assessment System (OASys)	285	(4)
Treating sex offenders	289	(22)
Treatment in prison: the Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP)	289	(6)
Treatment in the community	295	(2)
Residential treatment facilities	297	(2)
Alternative forms of treatment -- castration as treatment	299	(1)
Evaluating the effects of treatment programmes	300	(8)
Ensuring the 'seamless sentence' -- continuity of treatment between custody and the community	308	(3)
Sentence management: sex offenders in custody and in the community	311	(50)
Sex offenders and the prison population	311	(1)
The challenges posed by sex offenders	311	(6)
Protecting sex offenders inside prison	312	(1)
Removal from association	313	(3)
Vulnerable prisoner units	316	(1)
Release from prison	317	(18)
Fixed-term prisoners	317	(9)
Extended sentences	326	(1)
Release of prisoners sentenced under the Criminal Justice Act 2003	327	(2)
Release of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment	329	(1)
The role of the Parole Board	330	(3)
Sex offenders and discretionary release	333	(2)
Sentence management: supervision in the community	335	(14)
Supervision and electronic monitoring	336	(4)
Sex offenders and the probation caseload	340	(1)
The National Probation Service	341	(6)
Additional support: reducing risk through partnership interventions	347	(1)
The effectiveness of supervision of sex offenders in the community	347	(2)
Supervision, control and the threat of sanctions	349	(9)
Sanctions against re-offending -- offenders on licence	349	(1)
Sanctions against re-offending -- revocation of community sentences	350	(1)
Re-offending -- an effective sanction?	351	(5)
Enforcement of community sentences	356	(2)
Sex offenders and compliance with licence conditions and community orders	358	(1)
The challenges posed by those sentenced before the Criminal Justice Act 1991 -- a rapidly diminishing problem	359	(2)
Sex offenders in the community I: surveillance, control and multi-agency public protection arrangements	361	(64)
Keeping track of sex offenders -- the notification requirements	361	(15)
'Relevant offenders' -- those subject to the notification requirements	362	(2)
What about suspicions?	364	(1)
The Schedule 3 offences	365	(3)
The notification requirements	368	(2)
The registration period	370	(1)
Breach	371	(1)
The international dimension -- offences committed abroad and travel outside the UK	371	(4)
A database of information -- the development of VISOR	375	(1)
Controlling the activities of convicted sex offenders	376	(11)
The background -- Sex Offender Orders and Restraining Orders	376	(1)
Sexual Offences Prevention Orders	377	(8)
Foreign Travel Orders	385	(2)
Control in the absence of a conviction	387	(11)
Risk of Sexual Harm Orders	388	(4)
Non-specific control measures	392	(6)
'The last resort' -- taking individuals out of the community	398	(8)
The Mental Health Act 1983	398	(8)
Protecting the public: multi-agency public protection arrangements	406	(19)
Working together -- the growth in inter-agency co-operation	406	(1)
The development of multi-agency public protection arrangements	407	(10)
Disclosing information to the community: the 'outing' of sex offenders	417	(6)
Protecting the public -- where do we go from here?	423	(2)
Sex offenders in the community II: accommodation, family life and employment	425	(72)
'A roof over their heads' -- accommodating sex offenders	425	(3)
Remaining in the community	425	(1)
Release from a custodial sentence	426	(1)
'Not in my backyard' -- what is suitable accommodation?	427	(1)
Living in a controlled environment -- Approved Premises	428	(7)
The purpose of Approved Premises	428	(1)
Sex offenders and Approved Premises	429	(1)
The profile of sex offenders in Approved Premises	430	(1)
Sex offenders and admissions policies	431	(2)
Sex offenders and other residents	433	(1)
Sex offenders, risk assessment and risk management	434	(1)
Developing a strategy: Approved Premises and Offender Housing Strategy for Higher Risk Offenders	434	(1)
Moving on	435	(14)
Hostels provided by the voluntary sector which are not Approved Premises	436	(1)
Social housing	437	(6)
Homelessness	443	(5)
Accommodation in the private rented sector	448	(1)
Family life	449	(32)
Sexual offences within the family -- turning to the civil law for protection	449	(9)
Child protection and the Children Act 1989	458	(1)
Intrafamilial abuse	459	(10)
Protection of children outside the family	469	(5)
Protecting children in the absence of a criminal conviction or caution	474	(7)
Employment	481	(16)
'Vetting' -- the background	481	(1)
Increasing awareness of the problem in the 1990s -- the inter-departmental working group	482	(1)
Legislative reform	483	(10)
Vetting -- an summary of the current framework	493	(1)
Further proposals for reform	493	(4)
Conclusion	497	(10)
Sex offenders -- where do we go from here?	497	(1)
Criminal convictions	498	(4)
The importance of a criminal conviction	498	(2)
Increasing the number of convictions for sexual offences	500	(2)
Sex offenders and risk assessment	502	(5)
Sex offenders -- a 'broad-brush' approach versus an individualised approach	502	(1)
Risk assessment and the allocation of resources	502	(1)
Risk assessment, protection of the public and community notification	503	(4)
Index	507