Baroness Louise Casey, author of a landmark report on grooming gangs, has criticized the government's efforts to clear the criminal records of child sexual abuse victims, calling the current legislation a "lazy option" that fails to address the full scope of the problem.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Baroness Casey said that while the government has introduced a law to pardon individuals convicted of "child prostitution" offences, it does not go far enough. She argued that a comprehensive scheme is needed to quash all wrongful convictions stemming from grooming and exploitation.
"I feel that they've gone for the easy option and, if I'm being more brutal, [the] lazy option of not setting up a disregard scheme with enough thought, enough care and enough action," she said. "So far, they have failed."
The Home Office responded that it is progressing Baroness Casey's recommendation to review criminal convictions linked to childhood sexual abuse and encouraged affected individuals to contact the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
The BBC spoke to women who were groomed as children, sexually abused, and subsequently prosecuted for crimes they were coerced into committing. One woman, identified as Joanne, was groomed from age 15 and subjected to repeated abuse by over 500 men. She accumulated more than 40 prostitution convictions starting at age 17, which have prevented her from securing jobs, attending college, traveling abroad, or volunteering at her children's school.
Under the new legislation, Joanne will be pardoned for loitering or soliciting convictions from her minor years, but convictions after turning 18—while she was still being trafficked—will remain. She also seeks financial compensation for the lasting impact on her life.
Fiona Goddard, another survivor, was targeted by a grooming gang as a teenager in Bradford. She has between 30 and 50 convictions for public order offences, common assault, and criminal damage—many stemming from her inability to regulate emotions after abuse or from breaching court orders when her abusers tampered with her electronic tag. She described the government's narrow focus on prostitution offences as an attempt to "wipe away the evidence of their mistakes."
Jamie Leigh Jones, abused from age 12 in Oldham, was arrested over 100 times and even sentenced to four months in a secure unit for young offenders. She said all victims deserve individual case assessments and clean records.
The government noted that victims with non-prostitution convictions can apply to the CCRC, which can refer cases to courts if there is a real chance of appeal. However, Joanne said her application to the CCRC was rejected despite acknowledging her convictions were linked to trafficking and coercion.