Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2016 | Page 127

Legal Sexual abuse victims Criminal injuries compensation By Chris Prew of Roach Pittis Solicitors The purpose of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is to compensate victims of violent crime in recognition of a sense of public sympathy for the pain and suffering of the victim. What is the reality? The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority [CICA] has reduced the compensation of over 400 victims of sexual abuse because of their history of criminal offending. Although the CICA is entitled to take unspent convictions into account my fear is that they are confusing cause and effect. My experience is that the victims of abuse often offend as a consequence of the abuse they have suffered. Their offending is therefore a symptom of the abuse and it is quite wrong to use it as an excuse to reduce the compensation that they are entitled to. The CICA Scheme is often the only opportunity abuse victims have to recover compensation for the life changing impact sexual abuse can have. It is important therefore to deal with victims fairly and not to apply a rule in circumstances where the result is manifestly unjust. The same is true of underage victims of sexual abuse who purport to consent to the abuse. Although we understand and believe that a child cannot consent to sexual acts, the CICA have disallowed claims where the child tacitly consents to the abuse notwithstanding the grooming that has taken place. There is a wealth of CICA case law on such circumstances where children have been abused, but returned back to the paedophile as part of the grooming process. The CICA will consider in each case whether the child can be classed as a victim and therefore, entitled to compensation. What compensation? The CICA Scheme contains a tariff system for awarding victims of crimes of violence Compensation for physical and/or psychiatric injuries. Within that tariff scheme is a special category for awards for compensation for sexual offences. The lowest awards of compensation under the CICA tariff scheme for sexual assault are one off episodes of non-penetrative sexual act over clothing amounting to a level 1 award of £1,000.00. At the other end of the scale the highest level of compensation for sexual assault is awarded for repeated episodes of rape involving physical injury covering a period exceeding three years resulting in severe mental illness to the victim Level 20 award resulting in compensation totalling £44,000.00. If you require assistance in relation to a claim for Criminal Injuries Compensation whether for sexual abuse or any other violent crime please contact us for further advice. Find Roach Pittis Solicitors at 60 - 66 Lugley Street, Newport, PO30 5EU. Telephone [phone] or email [email protected]. www.visitilife.com Aug/Sep 2016_MASTER .indd 127 127 16/08/2016 15:23