By Will Sturgeon, 29 January 2003 17:49
NEWS The first major shake-up of sex laws in more than half a century has seen the introduction of a new offence, which covers the practice of 'grooming'. Grooming typically involves paedophiles befriending children in internet chatrooms, often pretending to be of the same age, or to have similar interests. Offenders now face up to five years in prison if convicted of this offence - although the government has admitted that proving online contact was made with the intention of later meeting and abusing children will be a tricky business. Home Office minister Hilary Benn told the BBC he did not "under-estimate the difficulties" of bringing such a prosecution. Despite this it was believed that a law outlawing grooming was long overdue. The law is divided into two areas, one to tackle people who simply use chatrooms to befriend children under an assumed identity, and the other to deal with situations where actual contact has been made following an introduction in a chatroom. The change in the legislation follows a massive campaign to educate parents and children about the threat of paedophiles who use chatrooms. The government is spending £1m promoting its www.thinkuknow.co.uk website, which offers help and advice on protecting children online and warning them of the dangers that exist.
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