- Protection of Children Act 1978
The Protection of Children Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom .The Protection of Children Bill was put before Parliament as a
Private Member's Bill byCyril Townsend in the 1977-1978 session of Parliament.This Bill came about as a result of the concern over
child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children that arose in theUnited States of America in 1977 and the uptake of this cause in the UK byMary Whitehouse and the press. At the same time, an organisation called thePaedophile Information Exchange was attracting much media attention. In this atmosphere, Whitehouse'sNational Viewers' and Listeners' Association was able to campaign in support of the Bill and present a petition bearing 1,600,000 signatures to10 Downing Street .When the progress of the Bill was threatened by MP
Ian Mikardo , who blocked it to protest against tactics being used by the Conservative party to blockEdward Fletcher 's bill on employment protection, the Prime Minister,James Callaghan , stepped in to ensure that the Bill received the time required in order to become law. ( [http://archive.theboltonnews.co.uk/2003/4/18/555769.html Bolton Evening News,18 April 1978 ] )The Law
Offences
As first enacted, the Protection of Children Act 1978 defined 6 offences:
Section 1.–
(1) It is an offence for a person–
:(a) to take, or permit to be taken, anyindecent photograph of a child (meaning in this Act a person under the age of 16); or:(b) to distribute or show such indecent photographs; or:(c) to have in his possession such indecent photographs, with a view to their being distributed or shown by himself or others; or:(d) to publish or cause to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that the advertiser distributes or shows such indecent photographs or intends to do so.The
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 amended this to deal with the concept ofpseudo-photograph s.1.– (1) It is an offence for a person–:(a) to take, or permit to be taken or to make, any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child; or:(b) to distribute or show such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs; or:(c) to have in his possession such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs, with a view to their being distributed or shown by himself or others; or:(d) to publish or cause to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that the advertiser distributes or shows such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs or intends to do so. [http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?parentActiveTextDocId=1502057&ActiveTextDocId=1502059 Protection of Children Act 1978 (c.37) - Statute Law Database ] ]
It is an offence to "attempt to incite" any criminal offence in the United Kingdom.
The "making" offence
Causing an indecent photograph of a child to exist on a computer screen is considered to be "making an indecent photograph of a child".
"A person who either downloads images on to disc or who prints them off is making them. The Act is not only concerned with the original creation of images, but also their proliferation. Photographs or pseudo-photographs found on the Internet may have originated from outside the United Kingdom; to download or print within the jurisdiction is to create new material which hitherto may not have existed therein." (
R v Bowden (1999) )The
Sexual Offences Act 2003 further amended the 1978 Act so as to increase the age of a child from 16 to 18; consequently, the 2003 Act also added a defence to cover the situation where an "indecent photograph of a child" was created by that child's partner. Because of the Bowden decision, it was also necessary to add a defence where it was necessary to make an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph for the purposes of a criminal investigation.1.– (1) Subject to sections 1A and 1B, it is an offence for a person–:(a) to take, or permit to be taken or to make, any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child; or:(b) to distribute or show such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs; or:(c) to have in his possession such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs, with a view to their being distributed or shown by himself or others; or:(d) to publish or cause to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that the advertiser distributes or shows such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs or intends to do so.
Definition of a child
Initially, the definition of a child was contained in the definition of offences::1.-(1) It is an offence for a person-::(a) to take, or permit to be taken, any indecent photograph of a child (meaning in this Act a person under the age of 16) ;
While adding the definition of pseudo-photographs, the 1994 Act deleted this definition and inserted a new subsection to the interpretation section:-
:7.-(6) 'Child', subject to subsection (8), means a person under the age of 16.
Subsection (8) defines pseudo-photographs. Subsection (6) was further amended by the
Sexual Offences Act 2003 , which raised the age of a child to 18.Section 45 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 made a number of changes to the 1978 Act. Principally it redefines a "child" for the purposes of the 1978 Act as a person under 18 years, rather than under 16 years, of age.
Section 45 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 also inserted new sections 1A (Marriage and other relationships) into the 1978 Act and 160A into the Criminal Justice Act 1988. These sections apply where, in proceedings for an offence under section 1 of the 1978 Act or section 160 of the 1988 Act relating to an indecent photograph of a child, the defendant proves that the photograph was of the child aged 16 or over, and that at the time of the offence charged the child and were married or in a relationship. These sections were further amended by the
Civil Partnerships Act 2004 to "civil relationships" after "were married" [ [http://www.wikicrimeline.co.uk/index.php?title=Sexual_offences_act_2003#Section_45:_Indecent_photographs_of_persons_aged_16_or_17 WikiCrimeLine: Indecent photographs of persons aged 16 or 17] ]Definition of an indecent photograph
The Act defines an indecent photograph broadly without defining the term "indecent", as "an indecent film, a copy of an indecent photograph or film, and an indecent photograph comprised in a film." The act defines "copy" to include negatives and a computer disc or any form of electronic means that can be converted into a photograph, and defines "film" as "any form of video-recording".
Definition of an indecent pseudo-photograph
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