Section 10: Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

Sexual Offences Act 2003 · 2003 c. 42View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 1: Sexual Offences

A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if—

he intentionally causes or incites another person (B) to engage in an activity,
the activity is sexual, and
either—
B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16 or over, or
B is under 13.

A person guilty of an offence under this section, if the activity caused or incited involved—

penetration of B's anus or vagina,
penetration of B's mouth with a person's penis,
penetration of a person's anus or vagina with a part of B's body or by B with anything else, or
penetration of a person's mouth with B's penis,

is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.

Unless subsection (2) applies, a person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.