Clause 49 - Paying for sexual services of a child
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
10:15 am
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I have great sympathy with the amendment moved by the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre. Clearly, prostitution is undesirable in relation to those of any age. If it involves those under 18, it is a very serious matter. I am in favour of his amendment. It seems to me that if one got rid of the two-tier system of sentences of seven and 14 years, it would still leave a measure of discretion to the court. The younger the child, the heavier the sentence is likely to be.
Against that, I can also see the Government's approach to the matter. Given that we have certain rules for those over 16, and those under 16, in relation to general sexual behaviour, making a distinction regarding the maximum sentence to reflect that is a perfectly correct approach, which is found in all sorts of statutes and criminal offences. That said, I have sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman is seeking to do, which would send out a powerful message.
It would be interesting to hear from the Minister whether there are examples of circumstances where she is satisfied that in the case of an activity with a child of 17 there is no possibility whatever that a court would wish to impose a sentence of imprisonment of more
than seven years. I suspect that the Minister will say that the Government have thought about that and cannot think of such an example under current sentencing tariffs. As I say, we could simply leave the matter to the court's discretion.