London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

New Criminal Code amendment strengthens the measure to protect underage against sex crimes

New Criminal Code amendment strengthens the measure to protect underage against sex crimes

This Bill amends the Criminal Code Act 1907 to strengthen measures to protect young persons, up to the age of 18, from sexual offences committed by persons in a position of trust.
"I am pleased to table the Bill entitled “Criminal Code Amendment Act 2020” in this Honourable Chamber today", said Senator Kathy Lightbourne-Simmons.

An offence of luring currently exists under section 182E of the Criminal Code Act 1907. However, this offence is not specific to a position of trust and provides protections for a child up to the age of 16 years old. Currently, luring targets online/electronic predatory conduct designed to facilitate later sexual activity with a child who is under the age of 16 years old, but there are no protections in place if communication by the predator is in writing or otherwise. These gaps in the Act have now been addressed by creating a specific offence of luring by a person in a position of trust in relation to a young person under the age of 18 years old and extending the current luring offence to include written communications and other forms of communications.

Society has unfortunately been too aware of instances where teachers and other authority figures have preyed upon our young persons with persistent attempts to engage in inappropriate sexual or romantic relationships. This egregious, predatory behaviour is called ‘luring’ or sometimes referred to as ‘grooming’. Real-life victims, child safeguarding advocates and child protection entities have each called for “urgent changes” to the criminal law to increase the age for luring offences to include young persons between 16 and 17 years old. Currently, the offence of luring is tied to the age of consent, 16 years of age.

Although 16 and 17 year olds have reached the age of consent, the overwhelming public sentiment and advocacy supports that sexual relations between adults in positions of trust and young persons between 16 and 17 is improper and must not be tolerated. When considering that luring behaviours by a person in a position of trust can take place before a young person reaches the age of consent, and persist well beyond 16 years of age, we can see that 16 and 17 year olds are left exposed to exploitation without legal redress. In such scenarios, perpetrators in a position of trust can escape prosecution for luring altogether. Additionally, most of our young people are still in secondary education up to 18 years old. Britain, and other jurisdictions, have addressed this problem by instituting specific offences criminalizing such abuses of power which harm and inflict trauma to young persons, including 16 and 17 year olds.

The Bill inserts a section 182EA into the Criminal Code Act 1907, which details the elements of the offence of luring a young person by a person in a position of trust. The new offence will cover all young persons under the age of 18. The section is intended to cover situations where an adult, who is in a position of trust, through any form of communication, gains a young person’s trust for the purpose of committing a sexual offence against the young person. The intended offence does not have to take place. The evidence of the adult’s intention to commit an offence against a young person may be drawn from their communications with the young person or may be drawn from other circumstances.

The penalty prescribed in law for this offence will be: on summary conviction, imprisonment for five (5) years; and for conviction on indictment to imprisonment for fifteen (15) years. These penalties correspond to the seriousness of the offence and are sufficiently dissuasive as a deterrent.

The effects of the Bill are that certain relevant factors may be considered at trial for a person being prosecuted for an offence under the new provision. Factors that might be taken into consideration may include the ages of the parties, whether there was consent, and the relationship between the parties such as whether an accused is a person in a position of trust with respect to the young person. This Bill also confirms that the evidential presumptions about consent with respect to an offence where an accused is a person in a position of trust, have not been affected by the creation of the new section 182EA offence.

It is also recognized that in numerous sexual crimes against children and young persons by adults in a position of trust or authority, it is common for the perpetrator to use assorted forms of communication mediums to groom or lure for sexual purposes. When reviewing the existing law, it was evident that the law criminalizes a perpetrator’s digital and electronic communications with a young person for the purposes of luring, but did not include other forms of communicating, such as handwritten notes and verbal communications. Drafted this narrowly, the existing law rightly encapsulates social media and online communications, however, it overlooks that handwriting is not yet obsolete – especially for students. For these reasons, the Bill amends the Criminal Code Act to include additional methods of communication, other than electronic means, such as orally and in writing.

The proposed legislative amendments also enhance Bermuda’s child protection regime for the progressive realization of the international standards of the Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Article 18 of the Lanzarote Convention, requires countries to criminalize international conduct involving a person engaging in sexual activities with a child, where abuse is made of a recognized position of trust, authority or influence over the child including within the family. The amendment proposed in the Bill is drafted to also include ‘relationships of dependency’ and is designed to capture familial relationships.

The Government is unwavering in its commitment to our youth to ensure that they can learn and thrive in safe environments and that they can access care and helping services without being subject to exploitation. I am thankful to our public sector and third-sector entities who unselfishly provide child protection services to our community and give voices to the voiceless. The process of progressing these amendments is testament to active community engagement and direct advocacy which challenges the Government to perpetually review and improve our laws to reflect present-day views and best practice. These legislative changes will strengthen Bermuda’s child safeguarding regime, providing further protection to our most vulnerable population and future leaders – our youth.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×