The Indecency with Children Act 1960 was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that expanded

English criminal law English criminal law concerns offences, their prevention and the consequences, in England and Wales. Criminal conduct is considered to be a wrong against the whole of a community, rather than just the private individuals affected. The state, i ...

in relation to sexual acts with minors. The Act made it a crime to incite or commit an "act of gross indecency" with somebody under the age of fourteen. It was repealed by the

Sexual Offences Act 2003 The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It partly replaced the Sexual Offences Act 1956 with more specific and explicit wording. It also created several new offences such as non-consensual voyeur ...

Act

The Act came about as the result of the First Report of the

Criminal Law Revision Committee The Criminal Law Revision Committee of England & Wales was a standing committee of learned legal experts that was called upon by the Home Secretary to advise on legal issues and to report back recommendations for reform. While never formally abolish ...

, which examined the flaw in criminal law relating to indecent assaults against children. Under the law as it then stood, there was no "indecent assault" unless there was some form of threat or show of force to the victim, and the Act was intended to close this gap. The Act came into force on 2 July 1960, and Section 1 made it an offence to commit or incite an "act of gross indecency" with somebody under the age of fourteen. The infractor was liable to imprisonment for up to two years on conviction after indictment, and six months or a fine of £100 for a summary conviction. These figures were amended by Statutory Instruments in 2000, which increased the imprisonment for conviction after indictment to ten years, or two years for a summary conviction. The fine for a summary conviction was increased by the

Criminal Justice Act 1967 The Criminal Justice Act 1967 (c 80) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 9 allows uncontroversial witness statements to be read in court instead of having to call the witness to give live testimony in the courtroom, if ...

to £400. Section 2 of the Act increased the punishment for committing incest with a girl under the age of thirteen to seven years in prison for sexual intercourse or attempted sexual intercourse, and five years for indecent assault. This section was repealed by the

Sexual Offences Act 1985 The Sexual Offences Act 1985 (c.44) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created two offences concerning prostitution, and increased the maximum sentence for attempted rape from seven years to life imprisonment. The act wa ...

. The Act as a whole was repealed by the

References

Bibliography

*{{cite journal, last=Downey, first=B.W.M., year=1962, title=Indecency with Children Act, 1960, journal=

Modern Law Review The ''Modern Law Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of Modern Law Review Ltd. and which has traditionally maintained close academic ties with the Law Department of the London School of Economics. ...

, publisher= Blackwell Publishing, volume=25, issue=1, issn=0026-7961 United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1960 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament