Allegations of sexual activity by persons in a Position of Trust

Please could you provide the following information for the last four years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019):

– how many cases were known about which related to sexual activity by a person who was potentially in a Position of Trust that is not currently covered by legislation with a 16 or 17 year old?

– of these cases, in how many was the role of the individual known and recorded?

– how many cases involved sports coaches or people working in sport?

– for those cases where the role was known and recorded, please categorise by the activity (eg sport, religion/faith, transport)?

We consider that to confirm we hold all the relevant information for the above, identify, locate and compile it would require in excess of the 18 hours allowed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Section 12 – Cost of Compliance. We would have to manually examine two hundred and fifty case files, created since 2016, first to identify the age of the young person, then to identify if the case met the criteria for the request. We estimate each case would take in approximately ten minutes. We can suggest that you may wish to restrict your request to one calendar year, this may enable us to identify the relevant information within the time limit.

However, we can link to some previous responses which may provide additional information, advice and assistance:

Child Sexual Exploitation

Allegations made against teachers

Allegations against employees who work with children

what is the process of reporting and recording cases by your LADO/DO?

All relevant polices and procedures are published on the Devon Children and Families website, which can be viewed via the link provided.