Just 7% of Stoke Child Neglect And Abuse Crimes Charged Since 2015
Five years of child abuse and neglect in Stoke-on-Trent has resulted in just a handful of charges being brought by Staffordshire Police.
Staffordshire Police saw 157 cases of child neglect and abuse reported to them in Stoke-on-Trent over the last five years.
However, data from the police sourced by the media literacy charity The Student View has revealed that only 11 of these offences resulted in a charge.
In four of the 11 instances, the culprit was charged but for an alternative offence.
There were 33 crimes classified as ‘cruelty to or neglect of children’ in 2015, and 23 in 2016. This figure almost doubled the next year, with 44 in 2017. There were 31 crimes of this nature in 2018, and 26 in 2019. In total, 157 instances of cruelty or neglect of children occurred in Stoke over five years.
In nine instances, the victim did not want to proceed further. 66 cases were handed to another agency to deal with, though the agency in question was not named in the data. Another 37 cases were not able to proceed due to evidential difficulties, despite the suspect being identified.
The other 43 cases ended without charges due to a variety of other reasons: the victim not wanting to proceed, the suspect not being interviewed due to evidentiary reasons, or a caution or postal requisition was provided instead of a criminal charge, amongst other reasons.