Chatroom predators target of new law

Sexual predators could go to jail for up to seven years as part of a Government crackdown on paedophiles who use internet chatrooms to "groom" children for sex.

The law change would create the new crime of sexual grooming, which would enable police to intervene and arrest a person before any sexual activity had taken place.

It would cover situations where an adult establishes contact with a child under 16 - for example through meetings, phone conversations, texts and chatrooms - gains the child's trust and arranges a meeting with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

In recent years concern has grown about paedophiles who befriend children in chatrooms and via text messages, and then manipulate them into sexual activities.

The Internet Safety Group says sexual grooming is common place and a serious problem that needs to be addressed as there have been several cases of sexual assault on New Zealand children after online meetings with adults.

This was highlighted in October when the Herald on Sunday revealed a mobile phone text chatroom, which was recommended by Vodafone but has now been shut down, was regularly used by paedophiles trying to procure sex from children.

Grooming is often used by sex offenders, such as serial paedophile Peter Liddell, who has 17 convictions for sexually abusing children spanning 20 years, the most recent this year, who groomed his victims before sexually abusing them.

Auckland police Child Exploitation Team head Detective Sergeant Joe Mills said such a law change would be welcomed.

"Anything that enables us the power to get at potential paedophiles or child exploiters before they commit an offence has got to be welcomed."

However, he said it would be interesting to see how feasible it was, for example proving a persons intent to commit a sexual offence.

Making sexual grooming an offence was suggested first by United Future MP Marc Alexander in an amendment to the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2).

Justice Minister Phil Goff said there was still some further discussion and checks to be done on the practical issues of the amendment, but it was "very likely" to go into the bill.

"I have no problem incorporating it into the bill. I have talked to Justice [Ministry] and police about it and they are both comfortable with it."

The bill, which attracted controversy in May when a clause allowing some youngsters to engage in consensual sex was dropped after a public outcry, passed its first reading in March and is currently before the law and order select committee. It is due back before the House early in the New Year for its second reading.

Mr Alexander described sexual grooming as an insidious crime and said he was staggered when he discovered it was not already an offence.

He said sexual grooming was where you induced a future sexual liaison with a child by drawing them into a situation, for example through a chatroom, that would encourage them to drop their natural sense of aversion about having sex.

Mr Goff said creating the offence would send a clear message that exploitative relationships by paedophiles would not be tolerated. The offence of sexual grooming was introduced in the UK six months ago.

Internet Safety Group director Liz Butterfield said while they supported grooming legislation, they were wary of moving too early, before there had been time to monitor how it was implemented in the UK and how successful it was.

She said there also needed to be wide consultation. "We really need to be sure to craft something that is most appropriate for New Zealand."

She said grooming could be problematic to prosecute and existing legislation also needed to be examined to see what possibilities it offered.