Clause 17 - Meeting a child following sexual grooming etc.
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley, Conservative)
The drive behind the clause, which is the main proposal from sub-group A, was preventive and proactive. An example cited by the police to the Committee was that of Luke Sadowski. Because the Bill is not on the statute book, that man was charged with attempted indecent assault, attempting to incite another to procure a child—a girl under 21—for sex, and possession of a firearm. It was his first offence and the police were fortunate that he pleaded guilty, as it would have been hard to make the offence stick. When the police went to his accommodation, they found firearms, handcuffs, knives and other paraphernalia, the implication being that ultimately he would kill a child. It was an offence in the mind, but if we follow that mind, 10 years would not be enough. Fourteen years must be available to the court, given that he might come out of prison in much less time than that.