---
###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK
---
**To Posters (it is important you read this section)**
* *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different*
* If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor)
* We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources)
* Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk
* If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM)
**To Readers and Commenters**
* All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated*
* If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning
* If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect
* Do not send or request any private messages for any reason
* Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The simple answer is that you can report it to the police.
They aren’t going to criticise you or judge you.
If there is evidence of a crime, they can investigate.
If not, there is no negative consequence for you.
Sometimes it is useful just for intelligence about questionable behaviour to be available.
Don’t worry about yourself in this- nobody with half a brain thinks badly of your actions.
Thank you so much, truly. It is really tough for me.
They won't say it's my fault since I was 16 and that is the age of consent? I thought he loved me so I kinda liked it and the attention he gave me at the tume but now I believe he was only using me.
If it started while you were 15 then the offence is "Sexual communication with a child"
"It is now a criminal offence for anyone aged 18 or over to intentionally communicate with a child under 16, where the person acts for a sexual purpose and the communication is sexual or intended to elicit a sexual response. The offence applies to online and offline communication, including social media, e-mail, texts, letters, etc."
Came into force in 2017. If you were 16yrs old when the communication started, then this law would not seem to apply - 16 is after all the age of consent where other factors like being a responsible adult don't apply.
"Bizarrely though so could you."
This point has already been addressed elsewhere. OP is at no risk of being prosecuted for disturbing pictures of themselves because it is simply not in the interests of public policy to prosecute victims of grooming.
You insinuated that it would ever be realistic for the complainant in a child grooming allegation to be prosecuted for sending photographs to the alleged abuser.
It demonstrates that you are talking about things you don’t understand, and *this* response indicates that you don’t realise the potential harm you could cause.
You’d be surprised how often people come across these posts long after the dust has settled.
The thought of a victim being scared *by your inane comment* and not reporting abuse they have suffered is something that sees to bother me far more than you.
Perhaps that reflects on you and your attitude to these scenarios.
It is a fact that the sharing of indecent images of children is a criminal offense and it is a fact that the poster was old enough to be tried for a criminal offense. I didn't say it was a likely outcome. If an "actual criminal barrister" ( sad flare by the way) can't comprehend those facts, that goes a long way towards explaining the current state of our criminal justice system.
1. I didn’t pick the flare. The Mods gave it to me so that people know that someone here knows what they are talking about.
2. I like the flair because it always draws out comments like yours.
3. I *do* understand the criminal justice system. Far better than you do:
- I understand both aspects of a CPS decision to prosecute.
- I understand the public interest test.
- I understand the problems that arise from genuine victims being fearful to come forward.
What I fail to understand is why you would seem to want to dissuade someone from reporting an allegation like this. But you don’t seem to be bothered by that.
I won’t speculate why.
**Unfortunately, your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):**
Please only comment if you know the legal answer to OP's question and are able to provide legal advice.
[Please familiarise yourself with our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/) before contributing further, and [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any further queries.
It depends on a few factors, depending on how sexually explicit the images were, he could be done for possession indecent images of a child. Though, this would put you at risk of repercussions for yourself, while this could be overlooked legally depending on the level of evidence for grooming. Since you were below 18, you yourself could be in trouble for disturbing indecent images of a child, but like I’ve said before, you could be given a “pass” on it if a jury were to agreed you were groomed into sending them for example.
> Though, this would put you at risk of repercussions for yourself, while this could be overlooked legally depending on the level of evidence for grooming. Since you were below 18, you yourself could be in trouble for disturbing indecent images of a child, but like I’ve said before, you could be given a “pass” on it if a jury were to agreed you were groomed into sending them for example.
This is dangerous misinformation - it is police and CPS policy not to prosecute victims of grooming for distributing images of themselves. OP would be safe from prosecution.
Does this mean I won't be in trouble for reaching out? I wanna reach out but the idea of being charged or prosecuted makes me scared I will be the one in trouble and not him. I haven't really told my mother about this out of fear of making her sad so I don't know what to do.
You managed to take victim-blaming to a fascinating depth here.
Next time you don’t know about something, try not to actively do damage in your answer.
Better yet, acknowledge the fact you don’t have any knowledge of the subject and say nothing.
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The simple answer is that you can report it to the police. They aren’t going to criticise you or judge you. If there is evidence of a crime, they can investigate. If not, there is no negative consequence for you. Sometimes it is useful just for intelligence about questionable behaviour to be available. Don’t worry about yourself in this- nobody with half a brain thinks badly of your actions.
Thank you so much, truly. It is really tough for me. They won't say it's my fault since I was 16 and that is the age of consent? I thought he loved me so I kinda liked it and the attention he gave me at the tume but now I believe he was only using me.
No, they absolutely won’t blame or criticise you.
Okay! That's good to hear! Thank you for assuring me!
If it started while you were 15 then the offence is "Sexual communication with a child" "It is now a criminal offence for anyone aged 18 or over to intentionally communicate with a child under 16, where the person acts for a sexual purpose and the communication is sexual or intended to elicit a sexual response. The offence applies to online and offline communication, including social media, e-mail, texts, letters, etc." Came into force in 2017. If you were 16yrs old when the communication started, then this law would not seem to apply - 16 is after all the age of consent where other factors like being a responsible adult don't apply.
She wasn't under 16.
Depending on how risque the pictures were, he could be done for sharing indecent images of a child. Bizarrely though so could you.
"Bizarrely though so could you." This point has already been addressed elsewhere. OP is at no risk of being prosecuted for disturbing pictures of themselves because it is simply not in the interests of public policy to prosecute victims of grooming.
> Bizarrely though so could you. You really don’t have to talk about things you don’t understand. It’s entirely optional.
What did I say that was false oh wise sage?
You insinuated that it would ever be realistic for the complainant in a child grooming allegation to be prosecuted for sending photographs to the alleged abuser. It demonstrates that you are talking about things you don’t understand, and *this* response indicates that you don’t realise the potential harm you could cause. You’d be surprised how often people come across these posts long after the dust has settled. The thought of a victim being scared *by your inane comment* and not reporting abuse they have suffered is something that sees to bother me far more than you. Perhaps that reflects on you and your attitude to these scenarios.
It is a fact that the sharing of indecent images of children is a criminal offense and it is a fact that the poster was old enough to be tried for a criminal offense. I didn't say it was a likely outcome. If an "actual criminal barrister" ( sad flare by the way) can't comprehend those facts, that goes a long way towards explaining the current state of our criminal justice system.
1. I didn’t pick the flare. The Mods gave it to me so that people know that someone here knows what they are talking about. 2. I like the flair because it always draws out comments like yours. 3. I *do* understand the criminal justice system. Far better than you do: - I understand both aspects of a CPS decision to prosecute. - I understand the public interest test. - I understand the problems that arise from genuine victims being fearful to come forward. What I fail to understand is why you would seem to want to dissuade someone from reporting an allegation like this. But you don’t seem to be bothered by that. I won’t speculate why.
[удалено]
So it wasn't true? I really don't want to get in trouble over this but I the idea of him doing this to someone else makes me want to come forward.
You will not be in trouble.
**Unfortunately, your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):** Please only comment if you know the legal answer to OP's question and are able to provide legal advice. [Please familiarise yourself with our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/) before contributing further, and [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any further queries.
It depends on a few factors, depending on how sexually explicit the images were, he could be done for possession indecent images of a child. Though, this would put you at risk of repercussions for yourself, while this could be overlooked legally depending on the level of evidence for grooming. Since you were below 18, you yourself could be in trouble for disturbing indecent images of a child, but like I’ve said before, you could be given a “pass” on it if a jury were to agreed you were groomed into sending them for example.
> Though, this would put you at risk of repercussions for yourself, while this could be overlooked legally depending on the level of evidence for grooming. Since you were below 18, you yourself could be in trouble for disturbing indecent images of a child, but like I’ve said before, you could be given a “pass” on it if a jury were to agreed you were groomed into sending them for example. This is dangerous misinformation - it is police and CPS policy not to prosecute victims of grooming for distributing images of themselves. OP would be safe from prosecution.
Does this mean I won't be in trouble for reaching out? I wanna reach out but the idea of being charged or prosecuted makes me scared I will be the one in trouble and not him. I haven't really told my mother about this out of fear of making her sad so I don't know what to do.
> Does this mean I won't be in trouble for reaching out? Yes. It's not in the public interest to prosecute victims of grooming.
You managed to take victim-blaming to a fascinating depth here. Next time you don’t know about something, try not to actively do damage in your answer. Better yet, acknowledge the fact you don’t have any knowledge of the subject and say nothing.