Child abuse / exploitation linked to a spiritual or religious belief in Essex 2009-2019

The request was refused by Essex Police.

Dear Essex Police,

Under the freedom of information act 2002, please provide me with the number of cases in the past ten years where there’s been a report of child abuse/exploitation where:

1. It is alleged that the child abuse / exploitation was linked to a spiritual or religious belief. Please show this year on year from January 2009 - present date.

2. Please show whether or not the alleged abuser was known to the child and in what context.

3. Please show the child's ethnic background, age, sex.

4. Please detail the location of the alleged abuse. If this was inside an institution then please provide the name of the institution.

5. Please show the number of subsequent investigations, charges filed and convictions for these alleged offences.

6. Please show whether or not it was the child who reported the alleged abuse or someone else.

7. Please state how the person reporting the abuse / exploitation became aware of the abuse and who they notified initially. 



8. How many of these children alleging abuse were subject to medical tests from paediatricians to determine if the allegations of abuse were consistent with medical evidence?

As you'll know, If the someone phoned 999/101 and reported their concerns it would be recorded on your CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system.
Any data recorded on your CRIS system (Crime Reporting Information System) should be there if someone known/unknown to the child abused/exploited is involved in the crime.
The information you receive from other sources such as concerned relatives, neighbours or community members etc would be likely to be entered on your intelligence system, CRIMINT (Criminal Intelligence).
The information I require might be reported in connection with a missing person and this would be recorded on your Merlin (Missing persons and related linked indices) system.



Please search the four systems mentioned above from 1st January 2009 until present date.

Yours faithfully,

Wesley Hall

Info Rights Freedom Essex, Essex Police

1 Attachment

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference. 

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act we are required to reply within 20
working days.  The Act does not specify a limit to the number of
information requests a public authority may receive or the number of
requests or questions an applicant may submit.  However, there are
exemptions in the Act that can apply and these include where the cost of
complying with the request would extend beyond the reasonable cost limit,
(currently 18 hours or £450), or if the request is otherwise manifestly
unreasonable in its scope or nature. 

 

Requests that ask a great many questions, or a number of detailed requests
submitted at the same time, may make it necessary for Essex Police to
refuse the requests wholly or in part.  The exemption at Section 14 may be
engaged if the burden on the authority is increased through multiple
requests on differing subjects.

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has responsibility for
providing oversight and guidance for the legislation and they have
produced advice for applicants on submitting effective requests.  Further
information can be found on the Commissioner’s website at www.ico.gov.uk
specific information relating to submitting a request can be found at:
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

 

While we process your request, please take the time to consider the ICO’s
advice and whether you feel it may be beneficial to amend or refine your
request. Our team is happy to discuss your request with you and will be
able to provide advice as to what kind of information will be available
from Essex Police.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Pauline Parker | Information Officer | Information Management Department |
Information Rights Section | Essex Police

 

Internal Telephone: 42077141 | Email: [1][email address]
Address: Information Management Department, Information Rights Section,
Essex Police HQ, PO Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA (for Sat Nav directions, use
CM2 6DN for HQ)

[2]cid:image001.png@01D4EA0F.18BBB1F0

 

 

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Info Rights Freedom Essex, Essex Police

2 Attachments

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties
on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at
Sec1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a
request is held. The second duty at Sec1(1)(b) is to disclose information
that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon
s17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a)
states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states
(if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

In respect of your enquiry:

Under the freedom of information act 2002, please provide me with the
number of cases in the past ten years where there’s been a report of child
abuse/exploitation where:

 

1. It is alleged that the child abuse / exploitation was linked to a
spiritual or religious belief. Please show this year on year from January
2009 - present date.

 

2. Please show whether or not the alleged abuser was known to the child
and in what context.

 

3. Please show the child's ethnic background, age, sex.

 

4. Please detail the location of the alleged abuse. If this was inside an
institution then please provide the name of the institution.

 

5. Please show the number of subsequent investigations, charges filed and
convictions for these alleged offences.

 

6. Please show whether or not it was the child who reported the alleged
abuse or someone else.

 

7. Please state how the person reporting the abuse / exploitation became
aware of the abuse and who they notified initially. 



 

8. How many of these children alleging abuse were subject to medical tests
from paediatricians to determine if the allegations of abuse were
consistent with medical evidence?

 

As you'll know, If the someone phoned 999/101 and reported their concerns
it would be recorded on your CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system.

Any data recorded on your CRIS system (Crime Reporting Information System)
should be there if someone known/unknown to the child abused/exploited is
involved in the crime.

The information you receive from other sources such as concerned
relatives, neighbours or community members etc would be likely to be
entered on your intelligence system, CRIMINT (Criminal Intelligence).

The information I require might be reported in connection with a missing
person and this would be recorded on your Merlin (Missing persons and
related linked indices) system.



 

Please search the four systems mentioned above from 1st January 2009 until
present date.

 

In respect of Sec 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating
to your request however in respect of Sec 1(1)(b) Essex Police does not
hold all the information requested in a format that allows it to be
retrieved within the scope of FOI.

 

When responding to a request for information under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act, a public authority is not obliged to provide
information if the authority estimates that the cost of the retrieval of
the information requested would be in excess of £450 (equivalent to 18
hours work). The costs criteria relates to a request in its entirety,
which means that if we cannot retrieve all of the information requested
within the costs limit, we are not obliged to retrieve any of the
information requested.

 

 Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act states that a public
authority is not obliged to:

“…comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that
the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate
limit.”

 

Essex Police have estimated that we would not be able to provide number of
cases in the past ten years where there’s been a report of child
abuse/exploitation where spiritual or religious belief were linked within
the timescales and fees mentioned under the Freedom of Information Act, as
set out in the Data Protection and Freedom of Information (fees and
appropriate limit) regulations 2004.  

 

We cannot provide this data, as it is not held in an extractable format.
We do not have any categories or constrained fields that allow us to
identify these religious cases from any other. Therefore, for the purpose
of this FOI, Essex Police would have to manually review each Child
Abuse/Exploitation case. Such an exercise would extend beyond the
reasonable amount that a public authority is required to expend in
responding to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, as set out
in the Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Fees and appropriate
Limit) Regulations 2004, which currently stands at £450 or eighteen hours.

 

Consequently, and to this extent, Essex Police are exempt from the duty to
provide this part of the information you have requested under the
provisions of section 12(1) of the FOI Act. Therefore, and in accordance
with section 17(1) of the Act, this communication must act as a refusal
notice to provide all of the information that could be interpreted as
being captured by this part of your request.

 

Section 16 (1) of the FOIA provides that a public authority is required to
provide advice and assistance and the following will provide further
explanation regarding the difficulty in extracting this information.
Please note, as mentioned above, we do not have any categories or
constrained fields that allow us to identify these religious cases from
any others. However, Essex Police can potentially do a addresses or
keyword search for relevant terms. Having said that, please bear in mind
that this will obviously miss ones without the relevant keywords and have
a high degree of inaccuracy. Essex Police systems are designed primarily
for the management of individual cases and not primarily for the
production of statistical information, results are subject to inaccuracies
inherent in any large scale recording system and could also be inaccurate
as a result of free text entry fields. If you wish to go ahead on this
basis, you will need to resubmit a request clearly stating the questions.
 

 

Thank you for your interest in Essex Police.

 

Kind regards,

 

Information Rights | Information Management Department | Information
Rights Section | Essex Police

Telephone 01245 452 647 or 101 extension 150030 | Email
[1][Essex Police request email]
Address: Information Management, Information Rights, Essex Police HQ, PO
Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA

[2]cid:image001.png@01D3E908.EC4D1080

 

Please note, if you require further information or wish to resubmit a
request please refer to the information found on the Commissioner’s
website regarding submission of effective requests
[3]https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...

 

Your right to complain

 

If you feel your request has not been properly handled, or you are
otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you have the right
to complain.

 

Complaints should be submitted within 20 working days from the date of
this response and should be addressed to the Senior Information Officer at
the above address or by email to:  [4][Essex Police request email]

 

We will conduct a review to investigate your complaint and endeavour to
reply within 20 working days.

 

Please explain which aspect of the reply you are not satisfied with, and
if your complaint concerns the decision to apply an exemption it would
assist the review if you would outline why you believe the exemption does
not apply.

           

If you are still dissatisfied following our review, you have the right
under Section 50 of the Act to complain directly to the Information
Commissioner. Before considering your complaint, the Information
Commissioner would normally expect you to have exhausted the complaints
procedures provided by Essex Police

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF or via [5]https://ico.org.uk/

 

 

 

From: Info Rights Freedom Essex
Sent: 28 October 2019 09:59
To: 'Wesley Hall' <[6][FOI #615792 email]>
Subject: RE: FOI 13798 - Child Abuse/Exploitation

 

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act we are required to reply within 20
working days. The Act does not specify a limit to the number of
information requests a public authority may receive or the number of
requests or questions an applicant may submit. However, there are
exemptions in the Act that can apply and these include where the cost of
complying with the request would extend beyond the reasonable cost limit,
(currently 18 hours or £450), or if the request is otherwise manifestly
unreasonable in its scope or nature.

 

Requests that ask a great many questions, or a number of detailed requests
submitted at the same time, may make it necessary for Essex Police to
refuse the requests wholly or in part. The exemption at Section 14 may be
engaged if the burden on the authority is increased through multiple
requests on differing subjects.

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has responsibility for
providing oversight and guidance for the legislation and they have
produced advice for applicants on submitting effective requests. Further
information can be found on the Commissioner’s website at
[7]www.ico.gov.uk specific information relating to submitting a request
can be found at:
[8]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

 

While we process your request, please take the time to consider the ICO’s
advice and whether you feel it may be beneficial to amend or refine your
request. Our team is happy to discuss your request with you and will be
able to provide advice as to what kind of information will be available
from Essex Police.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Pauline Parker | Information Officer | Information Management Department |
Information Rights Section | Essex Police

 

Internal Telephone: 42077141 | Email: [9][email address]
Address: Information Management Department, Information Rights Section,
Essex Police HQ, PO Box 2, Chelmsford CM2 6DA (for Sat Nav directions, use
CM2 6DN for HQ)

[10]cid:image001.png@01D4EA0F.18BBB1F0

 

 

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