Section 73 and Schedule 15: Grooming and adoption
490.Section 73 introduces Schedule 15. Paragraph 1 of Schedule 15 amends section 15 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It widens the offence of grooming so that an offence will be committed by an adult where a child under 16 travels to meet the adult or the adult arranges to meet the child, following two earlier communications, if the adult intends to commit a sexual offence against the child during or after the meeting.
491.Paragraph 3 of Schedule 15 amends section 27(1)(b) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to include reference to the relevant section of the Adoption Act 1976, which governs the effect of adoptions made before 30 December 2005. The result is that the provision applies to adoptions made before 30 December 2005, as well as to adoptions made on or after that date (which are governed by the Adoption and Children Act 2002). Paragraph 4 amends similarly the corresponding defence in section 29(1)(b) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 so that the defence for sexual relationships which predate family relationships is not available where there is a prescribed category of relation irrespective of whether a person has been adopted and irrespective of the date of adoption.
492.Paragraphs 5 and 6 amend sections 64 and 65 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 so that the offences of sex with an adult relative are committed where an adoptive parent has consensual sex with their adopted child when he or she is aged 18 or over. The adopted person does not commit the offence unless he or she is aged 18 or over.
493.Paragraph 7 amends section 47(1) of the Adoption Act 1976 so that section 39 of that Act (status conferred by adoption) does not have effect for the purposes of sections 64 and 65 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The result is that it is clear that pre-30 December 2005 adoptions are treated in the same way for the purposes of those sections of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 as subsequent adoptions.