The NSPCC, being concerned for the safety of children online and offline, was determined to close a legal loophole they had identified which could leave senders of sexual messages to children free from prosecution.
At the start of the campaign, the Government publicly claimed that a new law was not required, as it was covered by existing legislation.
However, with the help of our Flaw in the Law campaign we secured over 50,000 petition signatures and after heavy lobbying from NSPCC and the concerned public, we put our campaign on David Cameron’s agenda.
Not only this, but yesterday we heard that the Queen had approved the Serious Crime Bill, which means that it is now formally a criminal offence for an adult to send a sexual message to a child.
What an absolute success! In five months our campaign has achieved everything it’s been fighting for.
Now we’ve officially closed this gap in legislation, predators will be discouraged from grooming children online and the police will be able to take action against offenders earlier on in the grooming process; reducing online child abuse.
Congratulations to everyone involved, and thank you.
