Fifteen Rapists Avoid Prison Time By Apologizing to Their Victims

In the last five years, 15 rapists were given community resolution orders—meaning they apologized to their victims—in lieu of the custodial term of five years currently recommended by the British criminal justice system for a first time rape offence. Community resolution orders are aimed at first time offenders who have expressed "genuine remorse" for their crimes, according to police guidelines, and where the victim has agreed they do not want a formal police action.

In addition to the community resolution orders, cautions are increasingly being used by police forces as a response to serious sexual assault and rape. Greater Manchester Police—the fourth-largest police force in the UK—issued 29 cautions for rape in the period between 2011 and 2016. The Metropolitan Police, responsible for all crime in London, issued 17 cautions over the same period.

Official police guidelines recommend giving cautions for minor crimes, such as writing graffiti or shoplifting. Crucially, a caution involves an admission of criminal guilt, although it doesn't go on your record. If you accept a caution for rape, you are in essence admitting you committed the crime in lieu of further penalty.

"It's really alarming to hear that such a serious offence as rape would lead to a minor sanction," Rachel Krys of End Violence Against Women tells Broadly. "We need to get more clarification from police about what their approach is and why they are doing this."

Recent years have seen a move towards more restorative justice across the criminal justice system. Advocates fear that perpetrators of violence against women—specifically domestic violence and sexual offences—will end up escaping punishment for serious crimes in an effort to end prison overcrowding and reduce the strain on the criminal justice system.

In total, 4,647 rapes and sexual assaults have been dealt with by either cautions or community resolutions since 2011. As many sexual offenders don't just offend once, but multiple times, it is possible that a lenient criminal justice approach enables future victimization.

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"Cautions are issued for rape very rarely, and are authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service as the issuing of a caution for rape is not a police decision," explains a Metropolitan Police spokesperson. "They occur when a caution is the only means by which it can be ensured that a crime is recorded against the offender. In such circumstances it is almost always the case that the victim cannot or will not support the prosecution or where a prosecution is not considered in the best interest of a child."

It's worth emphasizing that some of the perpetrators in these cases may be under 18, and this might explain why they appear to be being let off lightly. And in comments to the Sun, senior police officials explained that a community resolution approach would need to be approved by not only the victim, but the Crown Prosecution Service and a senior officer.

But the broader question remains: Why are police forces allowing rapists to be punished under laws designed for kids with spray cans and teenage makeup addicts?

"Rape is never a minor offence," argues Krys. "All rapes are serious offences—in the eyes of the law, and in society's eyes."