Sexual abuse to Children 15 years and under over the last 30 years

Summary

The Isle of Man Constabulary responded to a request for detailed statistics on child sexual abuse over 30 years, providing aggregate data on victim ages and crime years while stating that specific information regarding abuser relationships, establishment involvement, and individual case records was not held.

Key Facts

• The authority provided a breakdown of sexual offences against victims under 18 by age group and year of offence.
• The total number of recorded sexual offences against victims under 18 in the dataset is 837.
• The Constabulary stated it does not hold information regarding the specific relationship between abusers and victims or the establishments where abuse occurred.
• No public register of offending persons with names and addresses was confirmed to exist.
• Specific details regarding the John Foster case and church involvement were not provided as the information was not held.

Data Disclosed

• 837
• 21
• 75
• 90
• 127
• 328
• 196
• 2002-2003
• 2024-2025
• 3977170
• 2024-07-16
• 2024-08-02

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held by the public authority

Original Request

I would like to know: A. number of children of all ages on the island that have been sexually abused. How many children of every age in each year? B. what relationship the abuser had to each child abused C. or which establishment employed the predator at the time of abuse D. which churches have been involved over the last 30 years with sexual abuse to a child 15 years and under E. Which other establishments besides CHVRCHES I've been involved with a child being sexually abused F. Were any records kept of the help given to the child following the sexual abuse? The frequency of caring Contact providing holidays, other social interactions in families including Child, the lengths that have been taken to make sure the child has counselling, the mother has a lawyer provided by the offending establishment, or any help at all given to the child and the family? G. Has anybody provided a register of the offending persons with names and addresses for public information use? H. Has anyone ever checked with the offending establishment that they are taking care of the family and the child they have allowed to be sexually abused by someone in their establishment? I has any public services or anybody else in government? I. Churches support the paedophile and help him in order to protect the church because of the bad publicity they seem to always get rid of the child and create further trouble for the family and do nothing whatsoever to help - can you confirm otherwise in any establishments at all? J. do you have the record of Elim court case from 25/26 years ago when John Foster was convicted of gross indecency and rape on more than one occasion? What do we know about this conviction of two years but let off out of prison after one year? Please allow me to have all the details available. Why did the Isle Of Man allow a paedophile to be brought over to minister in the Elam establishment when he had already offended in Colwyn Bay and Whitehaven Elim prior to this iom conviction? K. Has anything been put in place regarding sex pests on the island and how to keep a record of their names and addresses? And also also the establishments that offended?

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Isle of Man Constabulary Freedom of Information Police Headquarters Dukes Avenue Douglas Isle of Man IM2 4RG

Our ref: 3977170 2 August 2024

Dear

We write further to your request, received 16 July 2024, which states:

"I would like to know:
A. number of children of all ages on the island that have been sexually abused. How many children of every age in each year?
B. what relationship the abuser had to each child abused
C. or which establishment employed the predator at the time of abuse
D. which churches have been involved over the last 30 years with sexual abuse to a child 15 years and under
E. Which other establishments besides CHVRCHES I've been involved with a child being sexually abused
F. Were any records kept of the help given to the child following the sexual abuse? The frequency of caring Contact providing holidays, other social interactions in families including Child, the lengths that have been taken to make sure the child has counselling, the mother has a lawyer provided by the offending establishment, or any help at all given to the child and the family?
G. Has anybody provided a register of the offending persons with names and addresses for public information use?
H. Has anyone ever checked with the offending establishment that they are taking care of the family and the child they have allowed to be sexually abused by someone in their establishment? I has any public services or anybody else in government?
I. Churches support the paedophile and help him in order to protect the church because of the bad publicity they seem to always get rid of the child and create further trouble for the family and do nothing whatsoever to help - can you confirm otherwise in any establishments at all?
r w e k e a e K. Has anything been put in place regarding sex pests on the island and how to keep a record of their names and addresses? And also also the establishments that offended?"

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested.
I have detailed below the information that is held.

Victims of Sexual Offences under the age of 18.

Age of victim (under 18) by year of offence.

Age (yrs) SEXUAL OFFENCES Grand Total 0-3 21 21 4-6 75 75 7-9 90 90 10-12 127 127 13-15 328 328 16-17 196 196 Grand Total 837 837 Count of INVESTAge (yrs) Crime Year 0-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 13-15 16-17 Grand Total 2002-2003 1 1 2003-2004 4 3 5 9 21 2004-2005 1 2 3 5 15 15 41 2005-2006 1 4 6 5 17 10 43 2006-2007 2 2 7 11 25 7 54 2007-2008 1 1 5 8 7 22 2008-2009 1 6 1 5 5 18 2009-2010 1 4 2 11 3 21 2010-2011 9 1 15 7 32 2011-2012 1 2 5 19 3 30 2012-2013 2 1 7 8 11 7 36 2013-2014 6 1 2 14 4 27 2014-2015 1 2 6 5 7 5 26 2015-2016 2 7 9 15 11 44 2016-2017 3 2 8 17 6 36 2017-2018 2 5 5 7 15 13 47 2018-2019 1 3 6 13 12 6 41 2019-2020 12 2 5 15 17 51 2020-2021 5 7 4 3 16 15 50 2021-2022 1 2 6 14 26 18 67 2022-2023 1 6 1 10 25 12 55 2023-2024 2 8 2 7 24 14 57 2024-2025 1 1 3 10 2 17 Grand Total 21 75 90 127 328 196 837

Please quote the reference number 3977170 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely