Georgia Maxwell
10 Mar 2025
‘The Knock’ refers to the arrival of police officers at the home of a family where someone is suspected of an online child sexual offence. From our work in this area many of our clients have found navigating the aftermath of ‘the Knock’ a confusing place filled with terms they don’t understand, way too many acronyms and contact with statutory services who they have never been in contact with before.
We hope that this guide provides helpful information and demystifies some of the terms you might hear. Our goal is to provide an understanding of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and what could happen during this time from ‘the Knock’ to a potential court case. Throughout this incredibly difficult time remember to take care of yourself as well. It is important to prioritise your own wellbeing and seek support when needed.
Please take your time when reading through this document. There is a lot of information, which can feel overwhelming to read all at once. We have used some of the acronyms you’ll hear from statutory services within the document; you’ll find a list of these, along with an explanation at the bottom of this page. You can also head to our Resources Page which has a list of other organisations that might be able to offer you the support you need.
After ‘the Knock’
Police have now completed their search and left your home. This means someone who lives at your home has been arrested for online child sexual offences. For example, viewing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) also known as Indecent Images of Children (IIOC) or communicating with a child online. Following their search, police may have taken some or all of your devices such as mobile phones, ipads, desktop computers etc. Your partner or family member has been arrested because the police have been able to match your IP address to one that has accessed indecent images of children or contacted someone online, under the age of 18 inciting sexual activity.
At the police station
Your partner or family member has been arrested and taken by police to their local police station for an interview. Your family member will be entitled to free and independent legal advice, and the police can only hold a person under arrest for a maximum of 24 hours without charging them. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, for example if the person is a risk to others or there is a concern over their mental health.
Due to it being a sexual offence involving children, if there are children in your family, a referral to social services will be made and they will make contact with you within the next few days and organise to visit you. If your family member has close contact with any children outside the family home, such as nieces and nephews then social services might also inform the parents of those children too. Also, if your family member works directly with children, police or social services will inform their place of work.
Following their interview
Bail
When your partner or family member is released from police custody, they will be given certain restrictions to adhere to which is known as being on bail.
Your family member may be given bail at the police station after they’ve been charged. This means they’ll be released from custody until their first court hearing.
If they are given bail, they will have to agree to conditions for example:
· Living at a particular address
· Not contacting certain people
· Giving their passport to the police so they cannot leave the UK
· Reporting to a police station at agreed times, for example once a week
If they do not stick to these conditions, they may be arrested again and be taken to prison to wait for their court hearing.
Released Under Investigation (RUI)
When someone is Released Under Investigation (RUI), it means that they are suspected of a criminal offence and that the investigation into that alleged criminal activity is ongoing.
If your family member is released under investigation, it means there is no requirement to return to a police station at a future date, nor are they subject to any bail conditions.
Held on remand
If there is a concern over your family members’ mental health or they are considered a risk to the public, they may be held in prison. This will be until they are sentenced or attend their trial. This does not mean they have been found guilty of their crime, just that they are being held in prison whilst awaiting their court date.
Whilst they’re waiting for charges
The police will be conducting a full forensic analysis of the devices they have taken. They need to understand the accused individuals ‘digital footprint’ in order to gather evidence and determine the appropriate charges.
Once they have gathered all evidence needed to charge an individual, they will then send this to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). A specially trained lawyer at the CPS will review all the evidence. Together with a second 'reviewing lawyer', they'll decide whether there is enough evidence to charge. The CPS will then notify the police of whether to charge the suspect.
This process can take a number of months possibly years, this is dependent on which part of the country you live in, due to a lack of resources and a backlog of devices needing to be examined as well as the CPS having a wait list. Because of this lengthy time period, your family member may have their bail date extended more than once.
Charges
If your family member is charged there will be three things that could happen: There will either be no charges (so no further action taken), a formal police caution which would also include 2 years on the Sex Offenders Register (SOR) or charged and then a court date set.
Formal police caution
This can be offered at the discretion of the police and the CPS. For a caution to be given a court hearing is not necessary and the caution can be offered and accepted at the police station.
Although not a criminal conviction, a caution will still appear on a person’s criminal record and will show up on a standard and enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check. Acceptance of a caution for a sexual offence also includes two years on the Sex Offenders Register (SOR).
Charged
When someone is charged with offences, they will be seen in court. If they are charged with offences regarding CSAM/IIOC, the police will state which category/categories the images they relate to are in. There are three categories of images, Category A, B and C.
Category A: Images involving penetrative sexual activity with children. Images involving sexual activity with an animal or sadism.
Category B: Images involving non-penetrative sexual activity with children.
Category C: Other images involving children not falling within categories A or B. Usually Category A & B will have a higher sentencing than category C.
What do the charges mean:
Making
This involves downloading or “making” a copy of an image by virtue of saving it to a hard drive or USB. Making can be a confusing term, as it implies the offender has created an image. This is not the case. It means they have downloaded a copy of an indecent image of a child onto a hard drive, USB or disc.
Possession
If someone has viewed an image of a child on a website but not saved anything to a disc, hard drive or USB, then this is the most likely charge. This essentially means the person has viewed an indecent image of a child on a website, but not saved to a disc, hard drive or USB.
Distributing
Sending the images on to a 3rd party
.
Prohibited
These are indecent images of children that are in cartoon, anime, drawing or AI format.
Court
After someone is charged, they will be given a date for a plea hearing. This will likely be held at a Magistrate’s Court. This is where your family member will plead either guilty or not guilty. If they plead not guilty, a date will be set for a trial. If they plead guilty, they are now technically convicted of that crime and a date will be set for their sentencing (See details below). Usually, both a trial or sentencing will then be held at a Crown Court. This is because a magistrate’s sentencing power is limited in comparison to a Crown Court Judge and because of the severity of the offences.
If your family member pleads guilty:
Once they have pleaded guilty this is the point of conviction. This means the court will issue a certificate of conviction and your family member will have three days to sign onto the Sex Offenders Register (SOR).
Before leaving the court, your family member will also need to make a date with the Probation Service so that a Pre-sentencing report can be made.
Pre-sentencing report:
A pre-sentencing report is put together by the Probation Service. The Probation Service will offer a recommendation of the sentencing for the judge to take into consideration at your family members’ sentencing.
The Probation Service will take into consideration the entire history of your family member, including motivation for committing the offence, previous convictions, any rehabilitation they have done whilst waiting for court (counselling, drugs and alcohol support etc), finances, family background etc. This is to create a recommendation which is balanced between both punishment and rehabilitation.
If your family member pleads not guilty:
Then a date will be set for a trial. This can be much longer than waiting for sentencing as a jury will be needed. At a trial, the prosecution will have to demonstrate that your family member is guilty of the offence and will present evidence to the court. Your family member will be able to challenge the prosecution and, if they choose, to give their own evidence, this will be on oath, where they must swear to tell the truth. Usually, a barrister will act as their defence, but they do have the right to represent themselves in court without a lawyer.
Outcomes of court
Community Order
This is an order to serve the sentence for the offence in the community, under the supervision of the Probation Service. It will probably be given with a condition to engage with rehabilitation programmes, for example drug and alcohol support or mental health support. This also could include community service activities such as unpaid work, adhering to a curfew and prohibiting entering a particular place or location such as a school. Community Orders tend to be given for at least two years, in order to allow the person enough time to complete some rehabilitation work.
Suspended Sentence
This also allows the person to serve a sentence in the community, under the supervision of the Probation Service. The difference is that they "suspend" the sentence, meaning the person won’t go to prison as long as they follow certain rules or conditions. These conditions could be not deleting internet history or restrictions around contact with children. This will give the person a chance to prove they are law abiding and will adhere to the conditions set for them. If the person breaks the conditions set or commits any further offences, they will be required to serve the length of time in prison that was suspended.
For example, if a judge sentences a person to six months in prison suspended for two years, this means that the judge is saying the offence committed was serious enough to warrant six months in prison. However, due to factors such as no previous convictions and participation in rehabilitation programmes, the person will be allowed to serve this in the community whilst adhering to the set conditions. If the conditions are not adhered to, they will be made to serve the six months in prison.
If the person commits another offence within that two-year suspension period, they will serve not only the sentence for that offence, but also the six months in prison for the CSAM offence.
Custodial Sentence
If there is a custodial sentence the person will be taken directly from court to the prison where their sentence will be served. If a person has been sentenced to less than four years in prison, providing there are no additional concerns and the person does not cause difficulty whilst in prison, the person will be released after serving half of their sentence. If the sentence is for four years or more, then the person will have to serve at least two thirds of the custodial sentence.
Anyone who is found guilty of a CSAM offence will be put onto the Sex Offenders Register (SOR).
Sex Offenders Register (SOR)
The SOR is not a public document it is only accessible by the police and is a form of monitoring the activity and location of the people on it. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, all those on the SOR must register with the police within three days of their caution, conviction or release from prison. If your family member is convicted, they will be required to go to their local police station and sign the register. If they do not register, they will be charged with another criminal offence.
Register means the person will have to provide this information to police:
Full name and any other names used (aliases)
The addresses of any properties they stay in for more than seven days a year (non-consecutive)
Date of birth
National insurance number
Passport details
All foreign travel
If they are living or staying or visiting a residence with a person aged under 18, for 12 hours or more
Certain credit card and bank account details
They will be required to go to the police station on a regular basis in order to sign a document stating that they are still complying with SOR regulations. If they have no fixed address, you will be required to go to the police station once a week.
Failure to notify the police on any of the above or of any changes to any of the above is a criminal offence.
The person will remain on the SOR depending on the length of the community order, suspended sentence or prison sentence.
If the person has a Caution, they will be on the SOR for 2 years
If a person has a community order or fine, they will receive 5 years on the SOR
Prison sentence of 30 months or more: Indefinite notification
Prison sentence of more than six months but fewer than 30 months: Ten years
Prison sentence of six months or less: Seven years
Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)
A Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), previously known as a Sexual Offence Prevention Order (SOPO), is a court order that is usually given by the judge as part of your family members sentencing. The court order places certain restrictions and conditions on an individual, such as: contact with children, limit or manage internet use, taking part in rehabilitation programmes such as alcohol or drug treatment, a behaviour change programme or polygraph test.
It is very common for a person who is convicted of online sexual offences relating to children, to be subject to a SHPO.
Examples of conditions set by the order include:
Not being allowed to visit places where it is likely there will be many children e.g. a playground in a park
No access to the internet without installed computer monitoring software
No deleting of internet history.
Other agencies offering support for family members impacted by ‘the Knock ’
Support Line – Lucy Faithful / Stop it Now – for offenders and family members affected: https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/helpline/
Lucy Faithful / Stop it Now Forum: https://get-help.stopitnow.org.uk/
Talking Forward – Group Support after ‘the Knock’: https://www.talkingforward.co.uk/
Lucy Faithful Inform Course for Family members affected – Group Support: https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/inform.htm
Glossary of abbreviations and acronyms
AI | Artificial Intelligence
| If IIOC are referred to as AI images, this means images that have been generated/created by a computer. |
ARMS | Active Risk Management System
| This is an assessment tool used to evaluate the level of risk an individual may pose to the public, based on factors like their past behaviour or any signs they might reoffend. It is used to manage and reduce the risk of harm to others. |
CJS | Criminal Justice System
| This is how the government catch and punish people who break the law. It includes: · Police who catch criminals. · Courts where decisions are made about guilt. · Prisons where people may go if they're guilty. |
CPS | Crown Prosecution Service | This decides whether someone should be charged with a crime and helps bring them to court. When the police investigate a crime, they send all the evidence to the CPS. The CPS will decide if there is enough to prove the accused person is guilty. |
CSAM | Child Sexual Abuse Material | This is a term that refers to images, videos or any other content that depicts the sexual abuse or exploitation of children. |
DBS | Disclosure and Barring Service | This helps employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. |
IIOC | Indecent Images of Children | IIOC and CSAM are different terms for the same thing - Images, videos or any other content that depicts the sexual abuse or exploitation of children. |
IP Address | Internet Protocol | A home address for your device (like a computer, phone, or tablet) on the internet or a local network. It’s a unique string of numbers (or sometimes letters) that identifies your device. |
MAPPA | Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements | This is when different groups, like the police, social workers, and health services, work together to lower the risk of an individual re-offending. |
MOSOVO | Management Of Sex Offenders and Violent Offenders (Police)
| This is a team that is responsible for the management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders. It’s a special group within the police in the UK that focuses on managing and monitoring people who have committed serious crimes, for example sexual or violent offences. |
NFA | No Further Action | In a police investigation this means that the police have decided not to take the case any further. This does not mean the crime did not happen, it can happen for a few reasons, such as: there isn't enough evidence to prove a crime was committed, the person involved cannot be found or identified and the situation doesn’t meet the legal requirements for further action. |
OASys | Offender Assessment System | This is a process used by the probation service to understand someone’s risks and needs after they've been convicted of a crime. It’s like a detailed check-up that looks at things like: their past behaviour and whether they might reoffend, their personal situation (for example relationships, housing, or work). Any support they might need, such as help with anger management or mental health. The goal of the OASys assessment is to create a plan to help the person make positive changes, reduce their chances of reoffending, and stay safe. It helps the probation team decide on things like what kind of support or programmes they might need while they are on probation or after leaving prison.
|
OIC | Officer In Charge
| This refers to the police officer who is responsible for leading an investigation. |
POLIT | Police Online Investigation Team | A specialised team of police officers that focus on investigating online child sexual offences. |
PPU | Public Protection Unit | A specialist team within the police that focus on and monitor people that have committed crimes such as sexual offences or abuse. |
PSR | Pre-Sentence Report | This is a report written by a probation officer to help the judge decide what sentence to give someone who has been found guilty of a crime. The report includes information about the person's: Background (for example family, job, and any issues they may be facing). Their behaviour and attitude. Whether they might change their behaviour in the future. Any support they might need, such as rehabilitation programmes. |
RAR | Rehabilitation Activity Requirements
| These are part of a community sentence for someone who has committed a crime. They are asked to take part in activities that help them understand and change the behaviour that led to the crime. For example, counselling. |
RSR | Risk of Serious Reoffending
| This is a tool or assessment used to evaluate the likelihood that an individual who has committed serious offences in the past may commit similar offences again in the future. |
SHPO | Sexual Harm Prevention Order | This is a court order that has certain rules for someone who has committed a sexual crime. |
SOPO | Sexual Offence Prevention Order | A SOPO is the same as a SHPO. Both terms refer to a court order placed on someone who has committed a sexual offence. |
SRO | Sexual Risk Order | This is a legal order in the UK that can be given to someone who is thought to be at risk of committing sexual offences, even if they haven't actually been convicted of any. This might be because there is not enough evidence to charge them. The order places certain restrictions on that person, like limiting where they can go or who they can contact, in order to protect the public and reduce the chance of them offending. It’s a preventive measure to help stop potential harm. |
SOR | Sex Offenders Register | This is a list of people who have been convicted of sexual crimes in the UK. The goal of the register is to help keep track of people who have committed serious sexual offences, to keep the public safe, and to make sure the offenders follow certain rules after they are released from prison. |
VISOR | Violent & Sex Offenders Register | A list that the police use to keep track of people who have committed violent or sex-related crimes. The register helps the police know where they are living, if they have changed their addresses, and if they are following the rules set for them, like avoiding certain areas or people. |