Historic child abuse cases from 2014 to 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036051

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please provide a listing by year and month of the number of cases reported to the MPS where the alleged victim is a child aged 10 or younger.

This data is required for each month for the years 2014 to 2023.

This data is restricted to cases where the report to police is made at least 20 years after the most recent offence alleged.

The offences alleged to be those which would amount to some crime against the Sexual Offences Act 1956 or the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

What data is held by way of case outcome.

For example, whether in each case the result was:

No further action – with reason

Alleged perpetrator charged

Alleged perpetrator convicted, acquitted.

Please provide data on case outcome.

In how many cases were the allegations found to be false.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full. Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

By their very nature historic cases, and those involving young children, can be complex to investigate with the passage of time.

Each allegation reported to us is taken extremely seriously and the best investigative approach taken. This includes specialist support to victims as part of our commitment to tackling sexual offending which has such a devastating impact. We will bring all cases before the courts where the evidence is strong enough to do so.

Please see the below spreadsheet of data requested broken down by year not month as this will lessen the chance of an individual being identified