Sharing Sexual Images Offences 2023 and 2024
Publication Number: 1003
FOI Number: 20442
Information Request
Please could you provide us with the numbers in relation to the following information, for the period 31st January 2023 to 30th January 2024, concerning Disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress under Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act (2015) where the victim is aged 18 or older:
- Reported cases
- Arrests
- Outcomes:
- No further action (with further detail, if possible)
- Charges
- Other resolutions
FOI Duty
First Duty – Essex Police does hold information relating to your request.
Second Duty – See below.
Fact – Not applicable.
Exemption – Not applicable.
Caveat: The information is correct as at 05 July 2024.
Please note the following:
- Data extracted from Athena to show all offences with a created date between 31/01/2023 and 30/01/2024, where the home office classification has been recorded as 008/71.
- Data in this report is correct as of 05/07/2024. Figures are generally drawn from live databases of records which is subject to change as investigations progress. Data is also subject to quality assurance processes which can result in modifications. Over time the approach to collating data can change as a result of adjustments to systems, legislation, policy, procedure, and other factors. Where changes have been made and an updated dataset used, detail will be provided.
|
Outcome Type |
Count |
|
Type 14 - Evidential Difficulties Victim Based- Suspect Not Identified: Crime Confirmed But The Victim Either Declines Or Unable To Support Further Police Investigation To Identify The Offender |
29 |
|
Type 15 - Named Suspect Identified: Victim Supports Police Action But Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action |
63 |
|
Type 16 - Named Suspect Identified: Evidential Difficulties Prevent Further Action: Victim Does Not Support (Or Has Withdrawn Support From) Police Action |
83 |
|
Type 18 - Investigation Complete; No Suspect Identified. Crime Investigated As Far As Reasonably Possible-Case Closed Pending Further Investigative Opportunities Becoming Available |
40 |
|
Type 1 - Charged/Summonsed/Postal Requisition |
18 |
|
Type 20 - Further action resulting from the crime report will be undertaken by another body or agency subject to the victim (or person acting on their behalf) being made aware of the act to be taken |
4 |
|
Type 21 - Further investigation resulting from crime report which could provide evidence sufficient to support formal action against the suspect is not in the public interest - police decision. |
2 |
|
Type 22 - Diversionary, educational or intervention activity, resulting from the crime report, has been undertaken and it is not in the public interest to take any further action. |
15 |
|
Type 3 - Caution Adult |
5 |
|
Type 8 - Community resolution (Crime) |
1 |
|
Active Investigation |
12 |
Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries. Please note although data can be extracted from several sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data.
FOI Number: 20442
Information Request
- Between 1st February 2024 and 30th June 2024, how many reports did your police force receive alleging the offence of sharing explicit images or videos that have been digitally manipulated to look like someone else without their consent, commonly known as ‘fake porn' or 'deepfake porn' (covered by the Online Safety Act 2023). Please include the number of alleged offences reported as well as the number of individuals i.e. if there were multiple reported offences against one individual.
- Between 1st February 2024 and 30th June 2024, how many times did your police force charge someone under the Online Safety Act with the offence of sharing explicit images or videos that have been digitally manipulated to look like someone else without their consent, commonly known as ‘deepfake porn' although that term is not in the legislation. Please include the number of charges as well as the number of individuals i.e. if one individual was charged with multiple offences.
For clarity and to help you locate the information, I am asking for charges under the following law, Section 66B, sexual offences Act:
66B
- Sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film
(1) A person (A) commits an offence if—
(a) A intentionally shares a photograph or film which shows, or appears to show, another person (B) in an intimate state,
(b) B does not consent to the sharing of the photograph or film, and
(c) A does not reasonably believe that B consents.
FOI Duty
First Duty – Essex Police does hold information relating to your request.
Second Duty – See below.
Fact – Not applicable.
Exemption – Not applicable.
Our Response
Caveat: The information is correct as at 30 July 2024.
Please note the following:
- The data was obtained from the crime universe, based on offence codes 088/15 (Sharing intimate photograph or film to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or for sexual gratification/ threaten to share intimate photograph or film) and 175/08 (Share photograph or film of person in intimate state without consent).
- These offence codes cover Section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act.
- The incident summary for each offence was manually reviewed in order to identify offences where 'deepfake' images were used.
- Part one of this request relates to offences committed between 01/02/2024 and 30/06/2024 inclusive.
- Part two of this request relates to offences disposed between 01/02/2024 and 30/06/2024 inclusive.
- Essex Police received 17 reports that matched the above criteria within the dates specified. The reports were against 17 different victims.
- Essex Police did not charge anyone for offences that match the specified criteria within the specified dates.
Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries. Please note although data can be extracted from several sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data.