Mandatory 15-year minimum sentence for all child sexual offences

We urge the government to amend the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to introduce a mandatory minimum 15 year custodial sentence for all sexual offences against children including grooming, exploitation and rape. Current sentencing does not reflect the lifelong trauma caused to victims.

Child sexual abuse is one of the most serious crimes, yet many offenders receive sentences below 15 years. Mandatory minimums would ensure justice for victims, act as a stronger deterrent, and protect the public by keeping predators off the streets longer.

Child sexual abuse is a particularly abhorrent crime and the Government takes such matters seriously to protect children from harm, and support victims and survivors.

Child sex offences already carry significant maximum penalties and most offenders committing serious sexual offences against children such as rape and assault by penetration, which can carry a maximum penalty of a life sentence, receive lengthy custodial terms. Where an individual is convicted of a child sex offence, which covers a wide range of behaviours and harms, it is important that the courts retain discretion so that they can ensure that the sentence reflects the severity of the crime. The court is required to take into account all the circumstances of each case, including the physical and psychological harm caused to the child and the culpability of the offender, to ensure that sentencing is proportionate to the offence committed. That is why our sentencing framework generally sets maximum penalties but not minimum penalties.

Minimum sentences are rare in England and Wales and there are currently no minimum sentences for child sex offences. It is the function of the independent courts to decide the sentence in each case subject to the maximum that Parliament has provided, and any relevant sentencing guidelines published by the Sentencing Council.

In recognising the seriousness of this type of offending, the government introduced a range of provisions in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 including a statutory aggravating factor for grooming behaviour in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that sentences fully reflect the seriousness of this behaviour. This Act also creates new offences covering rape and other penetrative sexual activity with a child under 16 by an adult. The maximum penalty for these offences is a life sentence.

The criminal law provides a range of offences to deal with the scourge of child sexual abuse and provides robust sentences that reflect the seriousness of this offending.

Ministry of Justice