Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has stated that victims of sexual offences committed by children are being asked to "suck it up" for the sake of their attackers' rehabilitation, and she has called for a review of sentencing guidelines. In recent weeks, cases involving teenage boys receiving lenient sentences for rape and sexual assault have sparked public outrage.
Recent Cases Highlighting Lenient Sentences
In Fordingbridge, Hampshire, three boys were given youth rehabilitation orders after two were convicted of rape and one was convicted of involvement in attacks on two girls aged 15 and 14. The sentencing judge at Southampton Crown Court stated he wanted to "avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily."
Additionally, the Guardian reported on Friday that three separate teenage boys convicted of rape and serious sexual assault of girls as young as 14 in northeast England were handed youth rehabilitation orders and ordered to pay court fees of £26, a surcharge imposed on all youth defendants receiving such orders.
Phillips' Criticism of Sentencing Guidelines
Referring to both cases, Phillips, who resigned from the government last month, said this amounts to victims being asked to "essentially suck it up for the sake of the perception of what is best for the perpetrators." She also noted that sentencing guidelines do not account for a "growing trend" of children sexually abusing other children.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Phillips said: "I don't think the sentencing guidelines have been updated with that in mind but more so that the prevention that could be put in place. Early intervention, whether it's school or through the youth justice system, has kept pace with that changing trend and those things absolutely need to be looked at."
Concerns About Online Content and Crime
Phillips also warned that crime may have become "content for an eyeball economy," with serious offences being filmed "in order to make content." She called for a review of sentencing guidelines for children, suggesting they place too much emphasis on the perpetrator and not enough on victims.
Referencing the Southport inquiry, Phillips said: "One of the main findings of the first bit of the inquiry is that where we focus too heavily on the perpetrator and their vulnerabilities, and don't think about the public safety element. We are essentially asking the girls in Fordingbridge, and now these new cases reported in The Guardian, to essentially suck it up for the sake of the perception of what is best for the perpetrators. I think absolutely this all needs looking at."
Call for Preventative Measures
Phillips also called for more preventative measures, including early intervention at school or through the justice system. When asked about the rise in sexual offences committed by children, she said: "I cannot ignore the growth in online pornography, access to the most heinous things online for this generation that just simply didn't exist in prior generations. And so looking at what young people look at online, what they have available to them, and actually whether crime has become content for an eyeball economy. Because in some of these cases they were being filmed in order to make content."
The attorney general has referred the sentences of the teenage boys in Fordingbridge to the Court of Appeal for review as "unduly lenient."
