Child Protection Policy Alerts

Transcription

1 Child Protection Policy Alerts Purpose The Child Protection Policy (CPP) alert identifies prisoners who have offended against a child. Where an offender faces active charges or has been convicted of a relevant offence against a child under the age of 16, a CPP alert needs to be activated. What is the CPP alert used for? Some of these prisoners may pose a risk to children. The CPP alert indicates where we need to ensure that safety is maintained where children are potentially involved with these prisoners. For example, prisoners with a CPP alert will require any visit applications from children under 16 to be assessed by the prison s Advisory Panel. Their release from prison may also be notified to Child, Youth and Family. How do I know when to apply an alert? Which offences are relevant? CPP alerts are tied to relevant offences, and the raising of an alert does not take into account the circumstances surrounding the offending. It only takes one relevant offence against a child under the age of 16 for a prisoner to get a CPP alert. Once an alert has been applied it should never be deactivated (including on release), unless there is a change in the prisoner s active charges or conviction history which means they no longer have any relevant offences against children. Relevant offences against children fall into three categories. These categories are described below, and include examples of situations to help provide a guide of when and when not to apply a CPP alert. Category 1 - Relevant offences against children where the victim will always be under 16/victim has significant mental impairment These offences will always result in a CPP alert being activated as they can only be committed against a victim under the age of 16, or they have been assessed as offending where the age of the person is not relevant due to the victim s significant mental impairment 1. A list of these offences can be found in Resource - Resource - Child Protection Policy Qualifying Offences 2. Situation 1: Prisoner is being held on remand, facing charges of Theft. He has a previous conviction from 20 years ago for Unlawful Sexual Connection Female 12-16, which relates to a relationship with his high-school girlfriend when he was 17 and she was 15. In this situation, the prisoner would get a CPP alert. The circumstances surrounding the offending is not taken into consideration in the application of an alert. 1 Ten offences relating to offending against significantly mentally impaired adults have been included. This is because significantly mentally impaired adults are seen to be as similarly vulnerable as children. 2 Offence descriptions specify the age range of the victim, or it has been confirmed by legislation that these offences can only be applied where the victim is under 16.

2 Category 2 - Relevant offences against children where the victim may be under 16 These are offences which apply to children where the age is not verified as being under 16. Therefore, we need to be able to confirm the age of the victim before we are able to active a CPP alert based on one of these offences. If information regarding the victim s age is not available to you, do not add a CPP alert for them. A list of these offences can be found in Resource - Resource - Child Protection Policy Qualifying Offences 3. Situation 2: Prisoner arrives in prison on remand for charges that include Ill-Treat Wilful Neglect Child Under 17. There is no information available that confirms the child this charge relates to was under 16 years old. A quick search of their Criminal and Traffic History Report shows they also have a previous conviction for Assaults Child (Manually) from five years ago, for which they got discharged and convicted. In this situation, the prisoner would get a CPP alert. The previous assault conviction falls under Category 1 and is enough to activate an alert. Situation 3: Prisoner is serving a sentence for dishonesty offences. They have a previous conviction for Fail to Protect Child Under 18 Years. You have no information to confirm the age of the victim that this conviction relates to. In this situation, the prisoner would not get a CPP alert. Until there is additional information available that confirms the victim as being under 16, no alert should be raised. Category 3 - Relevant offences where the victim s age is not indicated by the offence description There are many other offences outside of categories 1 and 2 that could also result in a CPP alert being activated. For example, a prisoner may be convicted of Wounding with Intent where the victim is an infant. Other examples include Murder and Manslaughter where the victim is a child under 16. CPP alerts for these offences should only be added where information confirming the victim is under 16 is easily available to you. Situation 4: Prisoner is serving a sentence for Injuring with Intent to Injure. There is information available that confirms the victim was a 10 year old child. In this situation, the prisoner would get a CPP alert. Injuring with Intent is a relevant offence, and the age of the victim is known. Situation 5: A youth is transferred to an adult prison with a conviction for Murder. The offence was committed when the prisoner was 14 years old, when they killed another 15 year old in a youth gang-related incident. 3 Offence description or legislation does not specify that the victim is specifically under 16, however there is a high possibility that the victim was under 16 so further checking is required where additional information is available.

3 In this situation, the prisoner would get a CPP alert. Murder is a relevant offence, and the age of the victim is known. The age of the offender at the time of committing the crime is not taken into consideration in the application of alerts. Situation 6: Prisoner arrives having been remanded in custody on a charge of Manslaughter. There is no information easily available to the Receiving Office/Unit that identifies the age of the victim. In this situation, the prisoner would not get a CPP alert. Information pertaining to the age of the victim is not easily available to the Receiving Office. The Case Manager may receive further information at a later stage regarding victim age and add a CPP alert at this point. When would I not activate a CPP alert? In keeping with the purpose of the alert, some offences which could be considered offences against children should not attract a CPP alert (such as minor traffic offences). CPP alerts should not be activated where there are no active charges or convictions for relevant offending against a child. CPP alerts are tied to relevant offences, and should not be used for recording other information relating to children. Situation 7: Prisoner is serving a sentence for Breach of Protection Order. They have several previous convictions, one of which relates to a child. This offence is Failed to Ensure Child 8 to 14 Years Used Seatbelt. In this situation, the prisoner would not get a CPP alert. Minor traffic offending is not considered relevant to the purpose of the CPP alert. Situation 8: Prisoner is serving a sentence for aggravated robbery. They have no active charges or convictions for offending against a child, but there is a protection order that involves the prisoner s children. In this situation, the prisoner would not get a CPP alert. However, a Protection Order alert must be activated. As the CPP alert is tied to relevant offences against children it is not the appropriate alert to use in this situation. Prisoners subject to protection orders may not make contact with the protected person unless there are specific conditions made in the order permitting contact (e.g. may be permitted to write). Situation 9: Prisoner has previous convictions for theft, including stealing a 13 year old s Playstation console. In this situation, the prisoner would not get a CPP alert. Theft of a child s property is not considered relevant to the purpose of the CPP alert. Placing Alerts Where an offender faces active charges or has been convicted of a relevant offence against a child under the age of 16, a CPP alert needs to be activated. Review Date:

4 Once an alert has been applied it should never be deactivated (including on release), unless there is a change in the prisoner s active charges or conviction history which means they no longer have any relevant offences against children. Therefore, the Review Date should be set for 25/12/2200. Alert Comment If the active charge or conviction falls in Category 1 where verification of the victim s age is not required, the CPP alert comment should be as follows: Prisoner has a qualifying offence against a child, age verification not required. If the active charge or conviction does require age verification (category 2 or 3), the comment with the CPP alert should be as follows: Prisoner has offence against a child. Offence is CRN XXXXXXXXXXX, age verification source is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Only one active charge or conviction against a child is required to activate an alert, so adding information for each CRN is not required. Where a prisoner has an offences that require age verification, but also an offence that does not require age verification (see Situation 2 above), the first example should be followed. Deactivating Alerts Where there is a change in a prisoner s active charges or conviction history which means they no longer have any relevant offences against children (e.g. the charges are dropped or a previous conviction is quashed), the CPP alert should be deactivated and the reason for deactivation Case Noted. CPP Alerts should not be deactivated on a prisoner s release.

5 Last updated: 11 April 2016