Citation

Maslen H, Paine C. Crim. Justice Ethics 2019; 38(2): 65-102.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Jay College of Criminal Justice - Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/0731129X.2019.1600288

PMID

31708603

PMCID

PMC6817323

Abstract

Non-recent child sexual abuse (CSA) and child sexual exploitation (CSE) have received recent attention. Victims often do not report their ordeal at the time the incident occurred, and it is increasingly common for agencies to refer concerns to the police years, or decades, after the event. The combination of the non-recent nature of the offence, the lack of engagement by the (potentially vulnerable) victim, and the huge resource burden of investigation make deciding whether to proceed with investigation complex and ethically challenging. Although there will always be a presumption in favor of investigation, for some cases the reasons against investigating will outweigh this presumption. We examine the considerations at stake in making a decision about whether to make contact with the victim and proceed with investigating a particular non-recent CSA case. Arguing for a "broad rights" approach, we identify considerations relating to (1) the victim, (2) criminal justice and crime prevention, (3) limited resources, and (4) legitimacy. We argue that, all other things being equal, non-recent and current investigations are equally worthy of investigation. We assess the implications of suspects being persons of public prominence. We outline a principled decision-making framework to aid investigators. The Oxford CSA Framework has the potential to reduce unnecessary demand on police resources.

© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Language: en

Keywords

Oxford CSA Framework; child sexual abuse; child sexual exploitation; non-recent offences; police ethics; police investigation