Criminalizing Child Exploitation and Cuckooing in New Law

The government will make two things illegal soon: child criminal exploitation and “cuckooing.” Yvette Cooper is the Home Secretary and she thinks exploiting young people is horrible, so she wants to stop it.

Cuckooing means criminals take over someone’s home and use it for illegal stuff, like selling drugs. Current laws cover some parts of cuckooing, but the new law would cover every type of it.

Child criminal exploitation involves grooming kids and criminals use them for crime. This includes drug dealing and robbery, and the Home Office thinks the problem is bigger than numbers show.

The new rules set prison terms, with cuckooing potentially leading to five years. Child exploitation could get ten years, and Cooper wants to stop gangs from using kids while also making streets to become safer.

Rachel de Souza is the Children’s Commissioner. She says child exploitation hurts kids badly and feels everyone needs to understand it better. She thinks the new laws will help.

Courts could issue prevention orders, which restrict people at risk of exploiting kids. Breaking such orders would also be a crime and it could mean five years in prison.

The Crime and Policing Bill will also make spiking drinks a crime. Spiking could get someone ten years in prison.