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Rejected petition Make a paedophile’s loophole illegal.
Review the law relating to the grooming of children and the age of consent.
Abusers groom a child whilst waiting for them to reach the age of 16, and use the defence that although they knew the child all their lives, they waited until the age of consent before engaging in sexual activity.
More details
Often it is a family friend trusted by the parents, who had access to the child from as early as an infant. They groom the child and wait until they are 16. They can admit to this grooming behaviour and it is acceptable in the eyes of the law.
This activity affects many young and vulnerable people and the law must be changed to ensure it is recognised as illegal grooming behaviour. It is an abuse of trust and is conducted to knowingly circumvent existing laws on sexual activity with children.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We understand that you are concerned about grooming of children, but we're not sure exactly what new offence you want the Government to create.
You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you would like the Government or Parliament to do.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.