Sexual Assaults: British Politicians cry Foul over Lack of Anonymity for Defendants.

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A number of British Members of Parliament (MPs) is calling for the anonymity of sexual assault defendants.  Presently there is no legislation against the naming of any person accused of sexual assaults.  The press can publish the names and photos of sexual accused individuals even before they are charged with the allegations without any fear of breaking the law and facing possible libel action.

In contrast, there is anonymity for defendants of other crimes including murder until these individuals have been charged with the crimes.  That is, revealing the names or pictures of people accused of crimes besides sexual assault crimes before the accused are charged is illegal and can attract legal action.
sexual assaults suspect anonymity
Mark Pritchard


The latest MP to call for anonymity of individuals accused of sexual assaults is the conservative MP, Mark Pritchard.  Mr Pritchard was accused of sexual assault last December by a lady whose identity is protected by law.  The Crown Prosecution Service CPS told him today, however, that this case against him has been dropped.  The reason is that the CPS could not find sufficient evidence which could make it likely that a jury could convict Mr Pritchard on the event that the case proceed to court.
Another prominent MP who had also called for protection of the identity of sexual assaults defendants is Mr. Nigel Evans, also a conservative MP.  Like Mr Pritchard, Mr Evans was accused of rape last year by a woman whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons.  Although he was prosecuted for it, Mr Evans was found not guilty of this crime by a jury.
MP Suspect of sexual assaults
Nigel Evans
These MPs may be calling for changes to the law regarding sexual assaults so individuals accused of such offences could have the right to anonymity until such individuals are charged with the offences probably because they have been at the receiving end of the law on rape.

Otherwise, both politicians would be on the opposition side, like the majority of MPs, insisting that the law regarding anonymity of rape defendants is fine and should remain the same.

The rationale for lack of anonymity for suspects of rape is that naming such individuals can increase the likelihood that a prolific sexual offender among them can be caught by the police.  This happens when victims of sexual assaults committed by such offender break their silence and report these crimes to the police after seeing the publications of the names or photos of the assailant..

It is widely believed that many victims of sexual assaults do not report such crimes to the authorities largely because the victims did not think that the authorities could believe them.  Therefore, hearing other victims of sexual assaults accuse the same persons who had assaulted them can lead these silent victims to report their victimization.

There is no doubt that this can result in more prosecution for sexual crimes.  However, it is also important to consider the reputation of individuals who are accused of sexual assaults but are not prosecuted for such offences.

The reputation of these suspects is dented forever even though they were not charged with the crimes and subsequently found guilty of them.  This is because of the perception that there is no smoke without fire.    That is, for any sex case there is an element of truth against the accused irrespective of whether this suspect is subsequently prosecuted and found guilty for the crime.

But this assumption about suspects of sexual assaults is flawed.  For there are some individuals accused of sexual crimes who are totally innocent of such crimes.  In other words, some allegations of rape assaults is can be false.  Justifying the publication of the names and photos of individuals associated with these fabrications is difficult to understand.  It will betray the sense of fairness and the notion of innocence until proven guilty within the English legal system.

Whether this realization that there can be suspects of sexual assaults who are innocent to the accusation in addition to the calls by MPs accused of rape can result in changes to the law regarding anonymity of suspects of sexual assaults, only time can tell.



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