CHILD SEX TOURISM SOLICITORS
Child sex tourists are generally accepted to be people who will travel from their home location to another city, area, even abroad, with the intention of committing sexual offences against under 18s.
It is estimated that 2 million children worldwide are victims of sex tourists.
Every week you can read news reports of the crop of vigilante hunters that have sprung up in recent years, they will pose online as children with the express intention of trapping someone into travelling to another part of the UK with the expectation that they have been talking to a child online, and having groomed that child will meet up and have sex with them. However, the “child” turns out to be an adult, the Police are called and arrests are made. In Court, video evidence and transcripts of online conversations are produced as evidence and many people have been found guilty and jailed because of these so called “hunter” groups.
In some areas of the UK, the Police will refuse to work with and will not engage with these groups but it is becoming ever more popular that the Police will work alongside these groups to secure convictions for child sex offences.
You may think then, that if it is your intention to have sexual contact with a child, a much safer option would be to travel abroad to the Eastern and Oriental countries where there would appear to be a huge child sex trade, and not being in your home country would give someone with that inclination free reign to abuse children with impunity.
However, there is legislation, contained in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which means that UK nationals who commit a specified sexual offence against a child overseas can expect to be prosecuted for the offence on their return to the UK, effectively closing the loophole which allows a sex offender to escape prosecution if it is not an offence in the country where the act is committed.
The UK Government works with international police and child protection agencies to share information, particularly about known child sex offenders and wishes to send out a very clear and unequivocal message to offenders everywhere: no matter whether in the UK or abroad, if you commit these offences you will be brought to account and face the consequences of your criminal actions.
If you are prosecuted for an offence, it is vital that you seek urgent help from our specialist child sex tourism solicitors. We will review whether the charge against you is lawful and then advise you on whether you should be pleading guilty and working towards damage limitation, or if you have a defence.
Our specialist team of child sex tourism solicitors are here to help. Call us on 01623 397200.
