'Revenge porn' prosecutions and outcomes for West Yorkshire police 2021 to 2024
Request
In 2021 How many cases of 'revenge porn': disclose/threats to disclose private sexual images with intent to cause distress brought to the CPS by West Yorkshire Police resulted in conviction?
How many of these cases from 2021 resulted in the defendant receiving a custodial sentence?
In 2022 How many cases of 'revenge porn': disclose/threats to disclose private sexual images with intent to cause distress brought to the CPS by West Yorkshire Police resulted in conviction?
How many of these cases from 2022 resulted in the defendant receiving a custodial sentence?
In 2023 How many cases of 'revenge porn': disclose/threats to disclose private sexual images with intent to cause distress brought to the CPS by West Yorkshire Police resulted in conviction?
How many of these cases from 2023 resulted in the defendant receiving a custodial sentence?
In 2024 How many cases of 'revenge porn': disclose/threats to disclose private sexual images with intent to cause distress brought to the CPS by West Yorkshire Police resulted in conviction?
How many of these cases from 2024 resulted in the defendant receiving a custodial sentence?
Response
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) can confirm that we hold information relating to your request. The offence of disclosing, or threatening to disclose, private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress so called ‘revenge pornography’ was created by s33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. The offence was then repealed by s188 of the Online Safety Act 2023 which at the same time inserted a new section (at the end of January 2024) into the Sexual Offences Act 2003 – s66B - Sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film.
The data below shows the number of convictions and custodial sentences, charged by way of the above legislation, which originated from the West Yorkshire Police Force Area. Data is provided from 1st January 2021 to 30th June 2024. Data for the second and third quarters of 2024 are not yet available in accordance with the CPS publication scheme. Please consider the data in conjunction with the Caveats set out below.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not centrally collate information showing the number of defendant’s convicted and receiving a custodial sentence. To identify the specific information set out in your request we have undertaken a manual review of individual case files. The information we have gathered is set out below -
| Year | Convictions | Custodial sentence |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | 6 |
| 2022 | 11 | 11 |
| 2023 | 15 | 12 |
| 2024 (to June) | 12 | 7 |
The CPS has a record of a further 27 case files charged by way of the above legislation in the period requested, however these casefiles have been destroyed in accordance with the CPS Retention and Disposal Policy which is published on cps.gov.uk at cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-retention-and-disposal-policy and therefore we are unable to provide you with any data regarding these cases.
Data Caveats
- CPS data are available through its Case Management System (CMS) and associated Management Information System (MIS). The CPS collects data to assist in the effective management of its prosecution functions. The CPS does not collect data that constitutes official statistics as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
- Some or all of the information you requested under the FOI Act has been collated by undertaking a manual search of the CPS’ Case Management System using unique reference numbers supplied from the department’s Management Information System. As with any large-scale recording system, both the CMS and MIS systems are subject to possible errors with data entry, processing and the manual searches undertaken.
- The official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office (HO) and the official statistics relating to sentencing, criminal court proceedings, offenders brought to justice, the courts and the judiciary are maintained by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) hold the official records of sentences imposed, and they provide data by offence, and police area. The MoJ publish statistics on their website at Statistics at MOJ - Ministry of Justice - GOV.UK or you can contact them by email at [email protected].