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25 Child & Fam. L. Q. 425 (2013)
Group Localised Grooming: What Is It and What Challenges Does It Pose for Society and Law

handle is hein.journals/chilflq25 and id is 441 raw text is: 425 Group localised grooming: what is it and what challenges does it pose for society and law? Jamie-Lee Mooney and Suzanne Ost** Keywords: Group localised grooming - child and adolescent sexual abuse - sexual exploitation - multi perpetrator sexual offending - 'non-ideal' victims Group localised grooming (GLG) has recently attracted much societal attention following the prosecution and convictions of numerous perpetrators in large-scale cases involving groups targeting, sexually abusing and exploiting adolescents in Derby Rochdale and Oxford. Notably there is as much ambiguity surrounding what GLG is as there is about behaviour that constitutes sexual grooming more generally In this paper we begin by analysing the features and stages of GLG and its connection with the wider phenomenon of child and adolescent sexual abuse and exploitation. We then consider the social and legal challenges that GLG poses, highlighting particular victim vulnerabilities (such as being in local care) and more general adolescent vulnerabilities. Engaging with critical victimology approaches, we explore the construal of some adolescent girls as 'non-ideal' victims complicit in their own abuse. Turning to the criminal law and the offence of meeting or arranging to meet a child following grooming under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, we contend that the elements of the offence will often be hard to establish in the context of GLG and consequently it may be of little use in prosecuting perpetrators. We consider which other offences apply and whether the existing criminal law appropriately captures GLG. Finally we offer our views on the steps that could be taken to enable society and law to tackle GLG more effectively INTRODUCTION G roup localised grooming (GLG) has recently attracted much media attention' and inquiries by the Office of the Children's Commissioner and a parliamentary select committee were launched in 20112 and 20123 following the convictions of numerous perpetrators in large scale cases involving groups targeting, sexually abusing and Law School, Lancaster University. We are grateful to Alisdair Gillespie for his very helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper and express our thanks to the journal's anonymous reviewers. See 'Is sex abuse grooming a growing problem in the UK?', BBC News, 7 January 2011, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12140641 (last accessed 21 October 2013) and the news reports listed below. 2 See Office of the Children's Commissioner's Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (hereafter OCCI), Interim Report (November 2012), available at http://www.childrenscommissionergov.uk/ info/cseggl (last accessed 21 October 2013). According to this Inquiry, there were 2,409 victims of sexual exploitation by gangs and groups between August 2010-October 2011 (p 9). 3 Home Affairs Committee, Second Report: Child Sexual Exploitation and the Response to Localised Grooming (2013), available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmhaff/68/ 6802.htm (last accessed 21 October 2013).

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