Grooming
This type of offence can take place in person or more commonly online. It is part of a growing type of internet criminal offences which are being taken more and more seriously by the courts. If you are convicted of an offence of this nature you are extremely likely to be out on the Sex Offenders Register as well as being made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will hugely limit access to the internet, IT and streaming facilities.
If you are charged with an offence of grooming, the allegation will be that you have built a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so that you can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
Some allegations of grooming involve allegations that you may have attempted to build a relationship with the young person’s family or friends to make you seem trustworthy or authoritative making it easier to exploit and abuse the young person.
If convicted, you can receive a prison sentence of up to 14 years.