Evidence of sexual abuse in children proceedings (Pt 3)

Privilege and professional practice

In Wolverhampton City Council v JA & Ors [2017] EWFC 62 Keehan J dealt with a care case which involved allegations of sexual abuse of two young girls. They were aged 13 (X) and 12 (Y) at the time of his judgment. The proceedings are continuing. There were a variety of allegations against the children’s father and two male friends of the mother dating back nearly ten years.

Keehan J summarised his conclusion on the facts he had found during the 17-day hearing that the girls had been subjected to ‘sustained and prolonged sexual abuse’ over a number of years by their father and the two males (YQ and ZK); to physical abuse by their father; and their immediate family – their mother and maternal grandmother – had failed to protect them ([288]).

A number of questions in relation to the rules of evidence the law on how children’s evidence should be treated and of professional privilege arise from the judgment. The first of these was dealt with in Pt 1 ‘Rules of evidence in care proceedings’. Children’s evidence was dealt with in Pt 2....

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