An Order has amended the Sexual Offences Act
of 2003 to make it possible for offences which are not primarily
sexual in nature to be punishable by a sexual offences prevention
order (SOPO).
Improper use of a public communications
network is forbidden already by the Communications Act 2003. It
defines improper use as sending a message that is "grossly
offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character".
The amendment to the Sexual Offences Act add
that offence to the list of others that qualify for a SOPO. The
Order does not extend to Scotland.
The Home Office says that the new provisions
cover such activities as nuisance phone calls, obscene messages and
harrassment emails of a sexual nature.
The changes amend the two sections of the Act
which list offences, widening their scope and increasing their
number. It brings electronic communication firmly into the sights
of the Act.
Anyone issued with a SOPO is subject to its
conditions. A SOPO bans a person from certain behaviour for a fixed
period which must be five years or more. People issued with a SOPO
are added to the sex offenders' register.
The register is designed to monitor and
control the behaviour of, and therefore the risk posed by, sex
offenders. The amendments now made are designed to include acts
which are not in themselves sexual in nature but which relate to
sex offences.
A person who has committed one of the offences
listed may or may not be handed a SOPO and added to the sex
offenders' register. That is at the discretion of a judge or of the
police, the Home Office said. Police and courts are told to issue a
SOPO if they think that a person will re-offend if not issued with
one.
