Child exploitation and ‘cuckooing’ to be made criminal offences

Child criminal exploitation (CCE) and “cuckooing” will be made new offences under a new law, the home secretary has said.

Set to be introduced to Parliament next week, the Crime and Policing Bill would explicitly make the two acts illegal and introduce restriction orders on those thought to be using children for criminal means.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the exploitation of vulnerable and young people was “sickening” and added: “It is vital we do everything in our power to eradicate it from our streets.”

Cuckooing involves a vulnerable person’s home being taken over without consent for illegal activities such as drug dealing.

Under current law, prosecutors can examine offences such as assault, harassment and modern slavery when dealing with suspected cuckooing – but the proposed changes would cover all examples.

The Home Office said the proposed CCE offence is designed to target people who groom children into criminal activity such as county lines drug dealing or organised robbery.

Around 14,500 children were identified as being at risk of criminal exploitation in 2023-24 – but the Home Office said that is likely to be an underestimate.

Should the legislation pass, cuckooing would carry a maximum sentence of five years, while a standalone CCE case would have a possible 10-year sentence.

Ms Cooper added in a statement: “These steps are vital in our efforts to stop the grooming and exploitation of children into criminal gangs, deliver on our pledge to halve knife crime in the next decade and work towards our overall mission to make our streets safer.”

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said CCE is a “complex type of abuse that causes harm to victims in a way that has for too long been undercounted and poorly understood”.

“Introducing this new offence and new prevention orders will help create that much-needed clarity that exploited children are victims,” she added.

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The Crime and Policing Bill would also introduce CCE prevention orders – which would allow courts to put restrictions on people who they believe pose a risk of exploiting a child for criminal purposes.

Breaking these orders would also become a criminal offence with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

It comes after the government announced the Crime and Policing Bill would make spiking its own criminal offence on Friday, with a possible 10-year prison sentence.