The Protection of Children Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that criminalized indecent photographs of children. The Act applies in England and Wales. Similar provision for Scotland is contained in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and for Northern Ireland in the Protection of Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
History
The Protection of Children Bill was put before Parliament as a Private Member's Bill by the Conservative member of parliament Cyril Townsend in the 1977–1978 parliamentary session. This Bill came about as a result of the concern over child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children that had arisen in the United States of America in 1977. This cause was taken up in the UK by the press and Mary Whitehouse, who in a speech in 1977 had accused the Albany Trust of using public money effectively supporting the Paedophile Information Exchange (the project for a joint Albany/PIE pamphlet was scrapped). Decades later, it emerged that she had been accurate in her assertion. The existence of PIE was given by Townsend as an issue favouring legislation against child pornography. Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association was able to campaign in support of the Bill and present a petition bearing 1.5 million signatures.
When the progress of the bill was threatened by MP Ian Mikardo, who blocked it to protest against tactics being used by the Conservative party to block Edward Fletcher's bill on employment protection, the Prime Minister, James Callaghan, stepped in to ensure that the Bill received the time required to become law.
Offences
Currently, the Act defines as offences, roughly: To take or make any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child; To show or distribute such (pseudo-)photographs; To possess such (pseudo-)photographs with intent to show or distribute them; To advertise for showing or distributing such (pseudo-)photographs.
Amendments
1994
Originally, in 1978, the Act referred to "photographs". In 1994, to cover also actions involving images created or altered with machines like computers, the Act was amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, to refer to taking, or making, "photographs or pseudo-photographs", etcetera.
2008
The Act was further amended by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which provided that "photograph" includes:
"a tracing or other image, whether made by electronic or other means (of whatever nature)— (i) which is not itself a photograph or pseudo-photograph, but (ii) which is derived from the whole or part of a photograph or pseudo-photograph (or a combination of either or both)," and including data stored on a computer disc or by any other form of electronic means that can be converted into such an image.
Definitions
The "making" offence
Causing an indecent photograph of a child to exist on a computer screen is considered to be "making an indecent photograph of a child".
"A person who either downloads images on to disc or who prints them off is making them. The Act is not only concerned with the original creation of images, but also their proliferation. Photographs or pseudo-photographs found on the Internet may have originated from outside the United Kingdom; to download or print within the jurisdiction is to create new material which hitherto may not have existed therein." (R v Bowden)
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 further amended the 1978 Act so as to increase the age of a child from 16 to 18; consequently, the 2003 Act also added a defence to cover the situation where an "indecent photograph of a child" was created by that child's partner. Because of the Bowden decision, it was also necessary to add a defence where it was necessary to make an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph for the purposes of a criminal investigation.
1.– (1) Subject to sections 1A and 1B, it is an offence for a person–
(a) to take, or permit to be taken or to make, any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child; or (b) to distribute or show such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs; or (c) to have in his possession such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs, with a view to their being distributed or shown by himself or others; or (d) to publish or cause to be published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that the advertiser distributes or shows such indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs or intends to do so.