Sexually active children and victims under thirteen
Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, any young person under 13 is deemed not to be competent to give informed consent to any form of sexual activity and, consequently, a criminal offence is committed against the child. Information about such a situation should be passed to the police via their Public Protection Unit (Tel: 08457 444 888) The PPU will liaise with the Helpdesk in order to consider whether joint enquiries should be made. Information about sexually active children over 13 can be found in section 6, "Particularly Vulnerable Children", of these procedures.
When a girl under 13 is found to be pregnant she should always be referred to the Helpdesk: (Tel: 01952 385700). The young person will need to be identified, as will their sexual partner, if this detail is known. Such referrals will lead to a strategy discussion which will involve the Public Protection Unit.
Helpdesk staff are referred to their Business Process Policy procedures available on the Council's intranet.
Supporting a victim in making a complaint to the Police should be the subject of professional judgment made in consultation with the victim and with the members of the strategy discussion.