Key Facts

• The 2003 offence applies when an adult has met or communicated with a person under 16 and then intentionally meets or travels to meet them intending to commit a sexual offence.
• Other offences can cover arranging or facilitating a child sex offence, sexual communications with a child, and causing a child to watch a sexual act.
• Police in England and Wales recorded 7,197 sexual grooming offences in 2024/25, according to a report by the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse.
• Nearly a third of recorded grooming offences led to a charge, and just over 2,000 defendants were convicted in 2024.
• The rate at which suspects were prosecuted for grooming more than doubled over seven years, the report said.
• Since June, evidence of grooming has been a factor judges must consider when sentencing child sex offenders, and it can increase the sentence.
• ThirtyOne:Eight has argued that intending to groom should be a standalone crime, even if no sexual abuse occurs.
• Baroness Louise Casey highlighted a legal exception concerning teenagers under 16 who are in relationships with each other.