Section 33: Causing a person, with a mental disorder impeding choice, to watch a sexual act

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

Part 1: Sexual Offences

A person (A) commits an offence if—

for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, he intentionally causes another person (B) to watch a third person engaging in an activity, or to look at an image of any person engaging in an activity,
the activity is sexual,
B is unable to refuse because of or for a reason related to a mental disorder, and
A knows or could reasonably be expected to know that B has a mental disorder and that because of it or for a reason related to it B is likely to be unable to refuse.

B is unable to refuse if—

he lacks the capacity to choose whether to agree to watching or looking (whether because he lacks sufficient understanding of the nature of the activity, or for any other reason), or
he is unable to communicate such a choice to A.

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 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.