Causing a child to watch a sexual act

article 19(1) of The Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008

• Status not determined
• Requires proof of a state of mind
• Indictable only
• Sexual offences and indecent or obscene material

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 A person aged

18 or over (A) commits an offence if—

a for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, he intentionally causes another person (B) to watch

a third person engaging in an activity, or to look at an image of any person engaging in an activity,

b the activity is sexual, and

c either—

i B is under

16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is

16 or over, or

ii B is under 13.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds

a person

Conduct

breaching the provision

Fault element

Requires proof of a state of mind

Burden of proof

No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (for the purpose of obtaining, intentionally).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: intentionally, for the purpose of obtaining.

What would breach article 19(1)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.

Penalty

Mode of trial

Indictable only — tried in the Crown Court

Maximum fine

Not determined

Maximum prison (summary)

Not determined

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

• Imposition of community and custodial sentences: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  When a community order or custody is justified at all, and the presumption against short custodial sentences.

• Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017

  The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.

• General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019

  The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.

• Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales

  How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status

Status not determined

Made

9 July 2008

In force from

Not determined

Extent

Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order makes provision about sexual offences. Part 2 makes provision for the offences of rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. Part 3 makes provision about sexual offences against children. Part 4 makes provision about sexual offences against a person with a mental disorder. Part 5 makes provision about prostitution. Part 6 makes provision about other sexual offences. The Order abolishes the common law offence of rape, and repeals various provisions, including provisions of Part 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which are superseded by the offences created by the Order.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

• Policing and Crime Bill Lords · 12 December 2016

  181G: After Clause 150, insert the following new Clause— “Disregarding certain convictions etc for abolished offences: Northern Ireland (1) After Chapter 4 of Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (disregarding certain convictions for buggery etc) insert—“CHAPTER 5DISREGARDING CERTAIN CONVICTIONS FOR BUGGERY ETC: NORTHERN IRELANDGeneral101A Power of Department of Justice to disregard certain convictions or…

• Policing and Crime Bill Lords · 12 December 2016

  181H: After Clause 150, insert the following new Clause— “Posthumous pardons for convictions etc of certain abolished offences: Northern Ireland (1) A person who has in Northern Ireland been convicted of, or cautioned for, an offence specified in subsection (2) and who has died before this section comes into force is pardoned for the offence if the conditions that apply under this section in relation to the offence…

• Domestic Abuse Bill (Eighth sitting) Commons · 11 June 2020 · Alex Chalk

  The clause simply reintroduces schedule 2, which contains amendments relating to offences committed outside the UK. As with clauses 60 and 61, the amendments are necessary to ensure compliance with article 44 of the Istanbul convention. Part 1 of schedule 2 contains amendments to provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction over certain offences other than those set out in clause 60 under the law of England and Wales.…

• Victims and Prisoners Bill Commons · 4 December 2023 · Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)

  With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 21— Information relating to victims: service police etc. Government new clause 22— Meaning of “major incident” etc. Government new clause 23— Appointment of standing advocate. Government new clause 24— Publication of reports. Government new clause 25— Part 2: consequential amendments. Government new clause 26— Imprisonment or detention…

Other offences in the same instrument

• An offence under Article 3 of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 of…SCHEDULE 1
• Attempted rape of a child under thirteen 38D An offence under Article 3 of the Criminal Attempts and…SCHEDULE 1
• SCHEDULE 2SCHEDULE 2
• SCHEDULE 3SCHEDULE 3
• SCHEDULE 3SCHEDULE 3
• Rape of a child under 13article 12(1)
• Assault of a child under 13 by penetrationarticle 13(1)
• Sexual assault of a child under 13article 14(1)
• Causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activityarticle 15(1)
• Sexual activity with a childarticle 16(1)
• Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activityarticle 17(1)
• Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a childarticle 18(1)

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis

the provision says a person “commits an offence”

Confidence

0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source

• This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
• The Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
• Sexual offences and indecent or obscene materialOther offences on the same subject
• Offences created in 2008