ABSTRACT
It was always the intention that children and young people who committed sexual offences should be included on the register, the main concession being that they would be on for half the time period that adults would be on. As the register developed and took shape this inclusion of children and young people has continued to cause concern. It raises the question of how we should deal with sex offenders aged between 10 and 18. Should they even need to be included on the sex offender register? The age of consent to heterosexual activity has remained at 16 since 1885 when it was raised from 13 to help prevent child prostitution. The age of consent for same sex activity in England and Wales was reduced from 18 to 16 in 2001.
