One in three offenders snared under new revenge porn laws escapes with just a police caution
The shameful figures emerged after Crown Prosecution Service chief Alison Saunders recently boasted 'more offenders are being successfully prosecuted for sexual crimes than ever before.'
ONE in three offenders snared under new revenge porn laws escapes with just a slap on the wrist, shock figures show.
In 2014 then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling vowed authorities would do “everything we can to bring offenders to justice”.
But today The Sun on Sunday can reveal 31 per cent - almost a third - of all those caught in the first 20 months of the crackdown have been let off with just a police caution.
They will have to admit guilt but the caution is unlikely to show up in criminal record checks in future.
Only 471 revenge porn cases even reached court after the new law was introduced in April 2015, up to the end of last year.
And of those, just 80 - only 17 per cent - were handed jail terms.
But even those fell well short of the maximum two-year prison term, with sentences just an average of five months.
The figures emerged after Crown Prosecution Service chief Alison Saunders recently boasted: “More offenders are being successfully prosecuted for sexual crimes than ever before.”
David Spencer, Research Director for the Centre for Crime Prevention, blasted: “Revenge porn is a revolting crime, the consequences of which can dog its victims for years afterwards.
“It is therefore shameful that, despite criminalising it, those who have been convicted are receiving little more than a slap on the wrist.
“Even with modern offences, the punishment has to fit the crime, but in this case it is currently clearly insufficient.”
A clause added to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill in 2015 tackled those posting revenge porn pictures and videos online or physically sharing them.
Campaigners had fought to get a new law to make it a criminal offence for ex-partners to post personal pictures of their former partners on websites and social media.
The new offence made it illegal to share “a private sexual film or photograph” without the knowledge of the person shown and with the intention of causing them embarrassment or distress.
It ruled offenders could face up to two years in prison if convicted.
At the time Mr Grayling said: “The fact that there are individuals who are cruelly distributing intimate pictures of their former partners without their consent is almost beyond belief.”
Figures from the Ministry of Justice show a total of 692 people have been convicted or cautioned for the offence.
Of the 471 cases that reached court court, 194 got a community sentence, meaning the offender has to do unpaid work in the community.
There were also 43 cases where the offender was fined for the offence.
And 123 were handed a suspended sentence.
While the average prison sentence handed out was five months, most would serve only half - around ten weeks - before being released.
The figures also show that in 100 of the cases offenders paid an average of just £200 compensation to their victims.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Revenge porn is an awful abuse of trust which can leave victims feeling humiliated and degraded.
“Since we changed the law, there have been over 570 prosecutions for this offence which carries a maximum sentence of two years behind bars – proving our tough stance is working.
“By making it a specific offence, we have sent a clear message that this crime will not be tolerated.”
