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Baroness Louise Casey, who authored a significant report on grooming gangs, has expressed concern that children who were groomed, sexually abused, and subsequently prosecuted for crimes such as prostitution continue to be let down by the justice system. Despite the government’s introduction of legislation pardoning “child prostitution” offences, she believes this approach is insufficient. In a recent interview with the BBC, Baroness Casey sharply criticized the government’s response as a “lazy option,” emphasizing the need for a more thorough scheme that would properly quash all wrongful convictions of victims, rather than limit relief to a narrow category of offences.
Having led a national investigation into grooming gangs, Baroness Casey had urged the government last year to clear criminal records of victims who, instead of being protected, were punished for their abuse. The Home Office has committed to reviewing convictions influenced by the victimization of survivors, encouraging affected individuals to engage with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). However, survivors like Joanne (a pseudonym) illustrate ongoing issues. Groomed and exploited from age 15 by hundreds of men, Joanne was continually arrested as a child and prosecuted for crimes she did not fully understand, carrying a record of over 40 prostitution convictions. Although new legislation will pardon convictions linked to child prostitution, it excludes adult convictions, leaving many survivors’ criminal records unaddressed.
Other survivors highlight similar hardships under the existing framework. Fiona Goddard, trafficked and abused as a teenager, has an unknown number of convictions—estimated between 30 and 50—mostly for public order offences arising from her trauma and emotional distress. She explains how the narrower focus of the government’s pardon scheme feels like an attempt to erase evidence of official failure rather than genuinely rectify injustice. Fiona advocates for every survivor’s case to be reviewed individually. Jamie Leigh Jones, abused
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