Children’s criminal exploitation and the “cuckoo” should be officially criminalized in the United Kingdom under new laws that will be presented in the country’s parliament next week.
The Crime and Police Bill will establish specific offenses for the two crimes and introduce measures such as restriction orders for people suspected of exploiting children for criminal activities.
Criminalize cuckoo and the exploitation of children:
The cuckoo refers to the practice where criminals take control of a vulnerable person to use it as a basis for illegal activities, such as drug trafficking. Currently, the police are based on existing offenses such as assault, harassment or modern slavery to continue these cases, but legal coverage gaps remain.
The bill also has an offense to the criminal exploitation of children (CCE), targeting people who prepare children for criminal activities, including drug trafficking and the organization of theft.
According to the Home Office, around 14,500 children were identified as at risk of CCE in 2023-24, although managers think that the real figure is much higher.
Under the proposed legislation:
- The cuckoo will bear a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
- Children’s criminal exploitation will lead to a maximum sentence of 10 years.
- CCE prevention orders will allow courts to impose restrictions on people suspected of exploiting children.
- Violar these orders will be a separate offense, liable to a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Government and expert reactions:
Interior secretary, Yvette Cooper, described such an exploitation of “disgusting”, declaring that the bill would protect the victims and prevent hidden crimes before they were not produced.
“It is essential that we do everything in our power to eradicate this in our streets,” she said.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner of the United Kingdom, praised the legislation, declaring that this would give “the clarity that the children exploited are victims”.
“Too often, children targeted by adult criminals are during punishment instead of support,” she added. “Their voices must be heard if we want to create a legal system focused on safeguard.”
Additional measures: Doping criminalization:
The bill will also introduce a specific offense for doping, the act of giving someone alcohol or narcotics without their consent. He will carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
While the previous conservative government had proposed to criminalize the cuckoo in its criminal justice bill, the measure blocked when the Parliament was dissolved before the Snap general elections. The bill proposed by Labor aims to advance these long -awaited reforms.
The new legislation marks an important step in strengthening protections for vulnerable people and the reprimand on criminal networks that exploit children and adults at risk.
