For years, children who were groomed, sexually exploited and abused were not treated as victims, but as offenders. Instead of being protected, many were arrested, prosecuted and left with criminal records for behaviour directly linked to their exploitation. While recent legal changes acknowledge this injustice, survivors and campaigners argue the response still falls far short.

Baroness Louise Casey, who led the national investigation into grooming gangs, has been clear in her criticism of the government’s approach. Although legislation has been introduced to pardon “child prostitution” offences, she has described this as the “easy option”. It is a limited solution to a much wider, systemic failure. In her view, meaningful justice requires a comprehensive process to identify and overturn all wrongful convictions linked to child sexual exploitation.

A Narrow Fix to a Widespread Problem

The new legislation represents progress, but only within strict boundaries. It focuses on offences such as loitering or soliciting committed while under 18. For many survivors, this captures only part of their experience as they were often criminalised for a wide range of offences.

Survivors were arrested for public order offences, breaches of court orders, or acts committed under coercion and trauma. These convictions remain in place. As Baroness Casey has argued, limiting reform to one category risks ignoring the broader reality of abuse and its consequences.

The Lasting Impact of Criminalisation

“Joanne” is one of many who were groomed and repeatedly abused as teenagers. She was convicted multiple times for soliciting offences as a child and continued to receive convictions into adulthood while still being exploited. These convictions have prevented her from applying for jobs, attending college and volunteering at her children’s school. While some of her convictions may now be pardoned, others remain because they fall outside the scope of the new law.

Other survivors faced similar injustices. Fiona Goddard and Jamie Leigh Jones were repeatedly criminalised for behaviour rooted in trauma from the abuse. Fiona describes many of her convictions being a result of emotional dysregulation upon returning to her care home after being raped and beaten. In Fiona’s view, the government decision to only remove convictions for child prostitution offences feels "like they're trying to wipe away the evidence of their mistakes and their incorrect labelling rather than actually trying to fix an issue".

Jamie Leigh Jones received her first conviction at just 13. Despite clearly being vulnerable, she was publicly named, detained in a secure unit at 14 and left feeling violated and targeted. Jamie says that all victims of grooming deserve to have their cases assessed individually and criminal records wiped clean.

Barriers to Justice Remain

The government has suggested that victims with other convictions can apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). However, Joanne’s application to have her prostitution convictions reviewed was rejected. The CCRC acknowledged that Joanne’s convictions were linked to trafficking and coercion but rejected her application on the basis that the convictions were lawful at the time.

A Call for a Better Approach

Baroness Casey has called for a comprehensive scheme that would proactively review and quash convictions linked to child sexual exploitation in all its forms. Such a scheme would remove the need for survivors to navigate complicated legal avenues and instead place responsibility on the government to correct its own mistakes.

Amy Clowrey of Switalskis Solicitors says that “the government should find a way to expunge all convictions for children from the time that they were being exploited. There should be more work done to ensure that all those affected by child abuse can have the same opportunities that life has to offer as others do.”

If you are a survivor of grooming of abuse and would like to speak to someone in confidence, our experience legal team is here to support you.

To speak to one of our specialist child abuse solicitors about your situation in confidence, call us on 0808 303 0044, or contact us through the website.