Our People Cases
News Insights Contact
Home Our People Cases
News Insights Contact
03445879996
Insights
quote

“This is one of the UK’s top fraud and regulatory specialist law firms”

Legal 500

“They are an exceptionally talented firm of specialist practitioners, formidable in their own right”

Legal 500

“The level of expertise at ABV was beyond excellent”

Chambers UK

“They are efficient and always respond quickly”

Chambers UK

“ABV have established themselves as a top legal services provider in the white collar crime and serious fraud”

Legal 500

CONTACT US BY PHONE - 24/7
contact us
by email
Grooming; A short guide by our sexual offence solicitor
BACK
25 Mar 2022

If you’ve been accused of grooming, we know the kind of difficult situation you’re in. Maybe you have never had any trouble like this before, it is all completely new to you and you’re taken off guard. It’s a traumatic experience that needs the sensitive kind of help that our sexual offence solicitor can provide.

Here at ABV Solicitors, we understand what you’re going through exactly. We have experience with these cases and extensive plans to help you through every step of the way. Don’t wait until it’s too late, seek our legal help.

How does a grooming case begin?

There are a variety of different reasons that an accusation can be made or a grooming case can be started. The one most on the rise comes from members of the police going undercover on various social media platforms, catching those engaging in explicit conversation or sexual acts with minors. If these conversations progress to a meeting, it is likely you will be arrested on site. It is extremely important that you have the support of our sexual offence solicitor at this instance.

Parents, social workers or police can also raise accusations or concerns. These can come from interactions you’re having from children, things children have said or a red flag being raised by a website that has been compromised.

Entrapment

In the above paragraph, our sexual offence solicitor talked about members of the police force who go undercover to charge people with crimes of grooming. You may know this as entrapment and from the rise of crime shows and movies, you might also believe this to be a valid defence strategy. This is false. Even if the police officer can be proved as trying to encourage illegal activity in order to make their case, the court will only consider this defence if it can be proved that the officer has gone further than necessary to prove criminal activity. In these situations, you will be charged with an attempt as there is no official victim.

Types of evidence

There are varying types of evidence in a grooming case and each carries their own weight. Texts and emails detailing intentions or events when meeting the victim are always important to the investigation but are open to interpretation.

Videos and social media history is one of the most important kinds of evidence for this charge. In all the history found on an electronic device, there could be plenty of things that even suggest criminal activity. Our solicitors will make you aware and set out plans to defend you against this.

Gifts, although less important as the mentioned above, are becoming far more recognisable as a crime. Police are trained to see this as a kind of exploitation.

The consequences

The consequences of a grooming case are severe, which is why it is important to get legal advice as soon as possible. Grooming is not an offence on its own, but the varying segments under this umbrella term all have their own laws and acts. Intent and background will be taken into consideration heavily during the investigations, so our solicitors will listen to you completely to get the full picture.

Suspended Sentence

Acquittal – CPS Disclosure Failings